It Could Happen
by scared of clouds
Summary: A collection of my AU Jily drabbles, all written from prompts submitted on Tumblr. Rated M overall, but each drabble will have an individual rating. Cover art by Burdge.
1. The Importance Of Shoes

**A couple of quick things:**

** 1) I have a quite few of these drabbles already done so expect a sudden splurge of updates for this; I'm sorry if your inboxes get spammed with notifications if you're following me. **

**2) Each of these is pretty different in style, theme, etc, and they are totally unconnected to each other so you do not have to read them all. **

**3) Reviews would be appreciated, since at least a couple of these are almost certainly going to become full length fics and more may do so if I believe there is enough interest. **

**4) I take prompts over on Tumblr, though I can't say I'm fast to get to them, so if anyone has something they'd particularly like to see written, you can drop me a message and I'll almost certainly give it a try. I do write canon based drabbles too, and will start a new story to post those over here shortly. **

**That's it I think, on with the random assortment of ficlets!**

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**Prompt: Fairytale AU  
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**Rating: T**

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'Right then, so you all know what you're doing?' James stopped pacing and looked expectantly at his three closest friends, all of whom were looking back at him with what could only be described as concerned expressions. He raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands in an anxious gesture. 'Well?'

'We know what we're doing James…' Remus began slowly. 'It's just….' He looked at the others for help, and Peter piped up from the corner armchair.

'It's just that we aren't sure this is the best idea you've ever had to be honest.'

'What? It's genius!' James looked genuinely shocked at the very thought that his plan might not be as ingenious as he thought. 'What's wrong with it?'

'Well, for a start one doesn't traditionally begin a relationship by _trapping _the object of one's affections.' Sirius' voice was a slow drawl, his tone utterly unbothered as he lounged on the padded window seat.

James let out a huff. 'Firstly, our _relationship _has already begun, at the ball two nights ago if you recall, and it continued on very nicely last night. It's just that I don't think we're going to get much further unless I can make her stay past midnight.'

Peter didn't quite suppress a laugh, and the eyes of all the others turned to him. He swallowed and turned his laughter into a cough. 'Sorry.'

'As I was saying,' James continued witheringly, 'secondly, I'm not_ trapping_ her. I just want to stop her from being able to run off again.'

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. 'James, that is practically the _dictionary definition_ of trapping her.'

'Holy mother of Merlin, will you three shut up about this? _I know what I'm doing_. Now: what does each of you have to do tonight?' He glowered around at them, arms folded across his chest.

Peter cracked first. 'I'll be by the doors; when she comes in, I'll go down and close the main gates and stay at the gatehouse.'

'I'll be with you.' Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Obviously. Once she's come in and you've gone to ask her to dance, I'll slip out and put a sticking charm on the main staircase.'

'And I'll be running interference with the staff.' Remus sounded very much like he didn't appreciate this particular task. 'And keeping everyone in the ballroom _away_ from the main staircase.'

'Excellent.' James smiled at them all. 'See? We've got everything covered.'

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She was in cream tonight. Layers of light cream silk that fluttered as she walked. He liked it better than the gold or silver of the previous two balls; it made her pale skin more luminous, her red hair more vivid.

He'd seen her the moment she'd stepped foot through the door, as if his eyes had been pulled directly to her by some unknown force, and though he'd never admit it to his friends he'd breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her making her way into the room. He'd walked straight across the ballroom to her, barely registering the people he passed, not that it mattered; they weren't important.

He'd probably mortally offended whoever he'd been talking to at the time she'd entered – he wasn't even sure who they were now he came to think of it – but Remus would probably smooth things over for him.

Not that James cared very much right now; she was right here in his arms, and they circled the room together through song after song, and the rest of the party was a distant haze.

He could see the green of her eyes behind her mask. He knew the exact shape of her hand in his, and the curve of her waist where his hand rested. He'd memorised the movements of her mouth, the shapes it made as she spoke or laughed.

But he didn't know who she was.

He turned them the other way, and circled them around the floor and off to one side until they were half hidden behind a large drape, and he instantly gripped her waist gently and pulled her towards him.

'Why won't you tell me your name?'

Her face lit up in that smile he'd become unreasonably attached to in the space of three nights. 'Because it's not important.'

'It is to me. I don't know what to call you.'

'Pick one then.'

'I can't. I can't think of one that would describe you.' He couldn't imagine a single name that he could apply to her that wouldn't seem ridiculous.

'That's not what names do.'

'Yours should.'

There was that smile again, fleeting but brilliant and despite his frustrations with her he couldn't help the answering smile that spread across his face.

And then he kissed her, without a thought to propriety, to his good name or hers.

And she kissed him back, her hand sliding up to the back of his neck as they clung to each other behind the hanging drape that concealed them from the rest of the ball.

Then from somewhere in the room the clock struck twelve, and just as he knew she would she stepped out of his embrace and her head spun around to face the clock, the worry etching itself across her face.

He caught her hand as she turned back to him, her features set in an expression of apology.

'Don't. Don't do this.'

'I'm sorry. I have to.'

She ran, and he had to admire her light-footed grace as she rushed between twirling couples towards the double doors of the ballroom. He moved after her as swiftly as he could, but he was hampered by being larger and finding it harder to slip between people; out of the corner of one eye he could see Remus doing a sterling job of keeping everyone's attention away from the fact that the Prince was once again rushing out of his own ball, and he just hoped that his other two friends had done their jobs as well.

She wasn't too far ahead of him; he could just about see the cream silk of her dress shimmering as it caught flickers of candlelight as she ran down the corridor. He was vaguely aware that Remus was catching up behind him, but he paid his friend no attention as he rushed to catch up with her.

He arrived at the top of the grand staircase to find her standing the foot of the stairs, her chest heaving and her eyes enraged as she looked up at him. Her heeled shoes were clutched in one hand, her dress held up by the other, and Sirius lay on the floor on her right, unmoving. James stared at her with horror as she stood over his best friend.

'A sticking charm? A sticking charm!? How dare you?!' A flush rose in her pale cheeks as she raged at him, and though he wanted to move to her something held him in place.

'You have no right! What makes you think you could keep me here against my will? I wish I had never laid eyes on you, you, you…arrogant toerag!'

And with that as her parting shot, she threw one of her shoes at him and stormed out of the doors. He dodged the well-aimed footwear, and it tumbled to rest a few steps down from him. He began to make his way down the stairs, pausing to pick the discarded shoe up, his fingers tracing a pattern over the decorative stones as he descended.

He was aware of Remus coming up behind him as he continued his way down the stairs to Sirius.

'She's magical Remus. She must be. She recognised the sticking charm.'

'The thought had crossed my mind.' Remus pulled his wand out and revived Sirius, who sat bolt upright and stared around.

Seeing James, his confused expression turned into a scowl. 'Your girlfriend…first of all, your girlfriend is magical, and secondly, she has violent tendencies. She _stunned _me.'

'You let her stun you?' Remus asked, with a much straighter face than James thought he would have managed. Sirius glared up at him.

'It wasn't a question of "letting". I didn't know she was magical until she whipped a wand out from somewhere and broke the sticking charm on the stair. I was a bit gobsmacked to be fair, and besides, I'm not certain about the etiquette of fighting with girls, but I suspect it's not in the handbook of gentlemanly behaviour.'

Remus sighed. 'Well, if she broke the charm and got the jump on you, I'm going to say that there's next to no chance Pete managed to stop her at the gate. I'd better go and see what damage she's done there I suppose.'

He wandered out, leaving James sitting on the bottom step and Sirius still sprawled out on the floor alongside him.

'Now what genius?' Sirius let his head fall back on the floor. 'I think your mother will kill you if you throw _another_ party.'

James sighed. 'I very much doubt that she would come this time.'

'Blown it have you?'

'Maybe.'

James turned the shoe in his hands over and over, his eyes examining the stones, the stitching, the quality of the silk. A smile spread across his face.

'You know Sirius…these are very well made shoes. And very distinctive. I don't think there could be more than one pair of these in the kingdom.'

'James, we're not going to track a girl down using her shoes.'

Sirius opened his eyes and looked up to see his best friend grinning down at him. He spoke loudly and slowly. 'James. We are not going to track a girl down using her shoes.'

'Yes we are.' A cream silk shoe landed on Sirius' stomach, and he sat up to see James' back disappearing down the hallway. His voice echoed back. 'Bring the shoe Sirius!'

'I'll bring the fucking shoe.' Sirius muttered, clutching it to his chest as he staggered to his feet. 'He doesn't need the fucking shoe, he needs his head testing.'

He staggered off down the hallway after his best friend, shaking his head over the ridiculous scheme.

There was no way you could track someone down using their shoe.

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**So this is obviously Cinderella, but it's based on an older version of the story, in which Cinderella meets her Prince and runs away from the ball and he throws two more over the following nights in an attempt to see her again. On the third night, after she's run away twice, he has a servant smear tar over the steps and one of her shoes gets stuck rather than falls off. The ending, unsurprisingly, remains the same.**

**This prompt came from AU Jily week on Tumblr, and lots of other people wrote for that besides me, so if you enjoy Jily drabbles, check out jilyweek /dot/ tumblr /dot/ com**


	2. A Darcy By Any Other Name

**Prompt: Historical Jily  
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**Rating: K**

**This is set in Regency England, and is roughly based around Pride and Prejudice. Because when the opportunity to combine OTPs arises,_ you take it_.**

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'This is ridiculous. This entire ball is just Lord Malfoy's way of bolstering his position. As if being a Malfoy married to a Black wasn't enough for that.' Lily turned her back on the room resolutely.

Marlene caught her discreetly by the arm and turned her gently back to face the ballroom. 'Just smile and nod politely.'

'That would be easier if _he_ wasn't here.'

Marlene's brow furrowed briefly, before she remembered that it wasn't ladylike to frown and smoothed it out. 'Who?'

'Mr Potter.' Lily ground the name out, and Marlene fought the urge to suppress a smile even as her eyes flicked around the room seeking the dark-haired man, and the man she knew would be with him.

'I thought he despised these things.' Her tone was light, but Lily heard the undertone of excitement in her voice, and no wonder. If Mr Potter was here, as she knew he was, then it could only be because Mr Black had chosen to attend.

'I believe he does. But I also believe that he enjoys making us all _very _aware of that fact at every possible opportunity.'

'Lily, I know you didn't exactly start your acquaintance with Mr Potter well, but don't you think he might not be _quite _so disagreeable as you think?'

'You think that because you only pay attention to Mr Black whenever they are in attendance at these gatherings. You do not have to suffer him.'

Marlene smiled at her friend's disgruntled expression. 'Your mother will be most unhappy if you allow her to see that countenance.'

Lily smiled widely and fluttered her eyelashes. 'Is this more agreeable?'

'Most certainly. If only you could keep it there for the next few moments, I would be much obliged.'

'Lord give me strength, they're coming this way aren't they?' Lily straightened up and settled her face into the most neutral countenance that she could manage.

'Miss McKinnon, Miss Evans, how delightful!' Mr Black's voice was, as usual, smooth, rich and tinged with warmth. Lily's opinion on the gentleman was impartial; he was charming certainly, but she was certain that there was more than a hint of rascal beneath that polished surface.

His friend however…Mr Potter was not in possession of her good opinion. He was largely insufferable at parties, where he associated only with those he was already familiar with, and his arrogance and pride were so excessive that they might as well be separate entities.

Not only that, but Lily was well aware of his less than generous dealings with Mr Snape, another gentleman of her acquaintance, and one who she was considerably fonder of.

She curtsied her acknowledgment of both gentleman, and stood in silence while she listened she listened to Marlene and Mr Black exchange significantly more than the pleasantries that the situation required.

She silently rebuked herself for her lack of attention though, when she realised that Marlene had smilingly taken Mr Black's arm, and was even now moving to join the next dance.

'Might I have the pleasure?' Mr Potter had turned to her and she found herself unable to avoid looking him in the eye. The unreasonably bright hazel eyes, set into an unreasonably handsome face with its solid lines, and framed by unreasonably thick black hair.

'I…would be delighted.' She wasn't entirely sure why she had said that, since she'd been planning on a much cooler response, but those had been the words that had come out, so she supposed she was stuck with them now.

She accepted his arm and followed him to join the dancers, both of them resolutely ignoring the stares and whispers. Oh, this would fuel the neighbourhood gossip for days, the unapproachable Mr Potter dancing with the vivacious Miss Lily Evans.

The music began, and they stepped towards each other and away again, forward and away, before turning to take the hand of the person next to them; Lily's hand was taken by Mr Black, who offered her an exceedingly charming, if not wholly sincere, smile, and she caught sight of Marlene beaming at Mr Potter out of the corner of her eye. What surprised her more was that she was certain that she saw Potter smile _back_.

So he knew how to, he just chose not to. Well, perhaps one could be provoked.

She turned back to him and took his hand, her feet moving neatly in the steps of the dance, long ago memorised and needing no real thought to perform. 'How are you enjoying dancing this evening Mr Potter? I note that you tend to favour not partaking.'

'It's certainly not my preferred method of passing the evening, but I can see its appeal on the appropriate occasion.'

'And what, pray tell, do you consider to be the appropriate occasion?'

'Every ten year anniversary of the coronation.'

She came very close to laughing at that. A hint that he might very possibly have a sense of humour under those many and varied layers of superiority. Well, wasn't he just an intriguing puzzle? Not one she was particularly inclined to solve, but since she was here for the duration of the tune…

'Such a shame. You are an excellent dancer.'

He raised his eyebrows at her before they were again both swept away by the other half of their strange quartet.

Her hand landed in his again, and he turned them both exceedingly smoothly; not a pause, nor a hint of a misstep.

'It's something that every gentleman learns, and possibly one of the things he needs least.'

'Oh? You don't consider being an accomplished dancer to be a pre-requisite of being a gentleman?'

'It is, because society demands it to be so. For how else would we waste our evenings if it weren't for the invention of dancing?' He quirked an enquiring eyebrow at her, and she found her interest in him rising unaccountably. Most people had no interest in this kind of conversation, save her father, and to be speaking so to a gentleman in the midst of other gentleman was disconcerting to be sure.

'Well, how should you_ choose _to waste it?' She enquired as she followed his lead through another series of quick steps around each other.

'Reading would be my preference. Conversation that is not small talk. Perhaps some billiards, cards, or even some music that isn't composed for the purposes of us frolicking around like fops.'

'Well then sir, our dance is coming to an end, so I will pose you my final question: If you dislike dancing so, why did you ask me?'

They came to a halt, their eyes locked on each other's, green and hazel attempting to come to an understanding.

'Because it afforded me a rare opportunity to speak with you, and there is almost no-one else in the room whom I would consider capable of sustaining a stimulating conversation.'

He bowed shortly and moved quickly away, leaving Lily dumbfounded, until Marlene looked away from Mr Black long enough to realise that her friend was standing unmoving in the middle of the congregating dancers, and rushed over to remove her.

Lily took her arm and allowed herself to be led away, repeating the word 'insufferable' under her breath.

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**A/N: A lovely reviewer pointed out that some of my text disappeared from my author's note yesterday, leaving you with no idea which website I was directing you to! I have altered it, and I hope FF doesn't decide to eat it this time, but I was suggesting that you visit **jilyweek /dot/ tumblr /dot/ com** for many more drabbles by lots of amazing writers.**


	3. Two Very Different Spiders

******Prompt: Superheroes  
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******Rating: T******

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Stupid fucking suit. Why'd he ever think this stupid fucking suit was a good idea?

James pulled at the spandex – spandex, what a stupid fucking idea that had been – and cursed as he tried to peel the red and blue fabric away from his overly sweaty skin. It wasn't usually this difficult, but he was so incredibly tired after tonight's apartment fire that he felt like he barely had the strength to left his head, let alone perform the contortions necessary to get this idiotic disguise off. Not to mention that it wasn't exactly in one complete piece after tonight's little adventures.

When he finally managed to strip off the disgusting material, he threw it to the floor and heaved a sigh of relief, stretching his muscles out before reaching for his sweatpants. Christ, next time he designed a costume he was going to find a way to make it out of sweatpant material. What did they make sweatpants out of? Because it was a lot more comfortable than fucking spandex.

He swiped a towel from the en-suite and wiped off his face before draping it around his neck and leaving his bedroom.

He lived on his own, in his own apartment, and he still crept back in through the bedroom window after his extra-curricular activites. Maybe he ought to work on that. Then again, the neighbours would probably notice Spiderman wondering through their apartment building from time to time.

He'd wonder later how he failed to notice her; it was a testament to her skills he supposed, that she could remain so well-concealed in plain sight.

'Rough night.'

He span around, his eyes skittering all around the apartment until they settled on the outline of a figure, seated neatly in his armchair. The woman pushed herself up from her seat and moved towards him. He couldn't call it walking; it was more like _slinking_. She moved with an easy grace, but with all the threat of a coiled spring. Her hair was pulled off her face, but the dark red curls were barely tamed; he couldn't make out anything else about her in the dim light, except that she was wearing very tight-fitting jeans and a leather jacket.

'That apartment fire was tough. Fire fighters would never have managed on their own. You must have pulled out what, seventeen people?'

'Eighteen.' James corrected her. 'And a dog.' No point in denying anything; if she'd put it together, there was little he could do about it now, though he'd try to convince her to maintain her silence on the matter. That could actually be fun.

She suppressed her smile and nodded very slightly. 'Of course. Mustn't forget the dog.'

'Well, it might be a tiebreaker someday.' He opened his refrigerator and pulled out a beer. 'Can I interest you in a beer?'

She cocked her head to one side. 'You find me in your apartment, uninvited, and your response is to offer me a beer?'

'Well, kicking your ass would probably be considered rude.'

She raised her eyebrows. 'And impossible.'

'Careful. I like a challenge.'

She actually grinned at that. 'Me too.'

'So. Beer?'

She took the beer he offered, their fingers brushing briefly as it changed hands.

They both took sips in silence for a moment, before the redhead spoke again, her unusually bright green eyes locking onto his. 'My name's Lily. And I know yours is James, so don't bother.'

'There a last name to go with that, _Lily_?'

'None that you need to concern yourself with.'

He tilted his head to one side and smiled. Quick-witted, sharp and confident.

Perfect.

'Well then, _Lily_. What was it you wanted? I assume you didn't break into my apartment for a beer?'

'No.' She took another pull of her beer. 'I'm here to talk to you about something that needs people of your talents. Something called the Avenger's Initiative.'

'The Avenger's Initiative.' He repeated incredulously. 'Someone actually thought that was a good name for _anything_?'

She put her bottle down on the counter. 'The name is irrelevant. The purpose matters.'

'And that would be…?'

'To meet the challenges that others can't. To fight threats that can't be neutralised by conventional means.'

'Government?'

She smiled in a humourless sort of way. 'In a manner of speaking.'

'They're aware of me?'

'Did you honestly think they weren't?'

Well, this was bad. Not just one smart, mysterious woman who had him worked out, but an entire government organisation. Fuck.

'We know about you; we've chosen not to do anything about it because you aren't in anyway a problem of national security. You could, however, be an _asset _to national security. If you chose to be.'

'So, let me get this straight.' James rested his elbows on his kitchen island. 'You represent a shadowy quasi-governmental agency that is recruiting people with "special talents" for non-specified missions, that are vital to the national security of the nation, and you think I'm going to jump at the chance to join up?'

'No.' She smiled at him in an utterly humourless way, lips set in a thin line. '**_I _**expect you to decline, and then to offer me some tiresome puns and maybe ask me out.'

She moved towards him until her face was just an inch away from his. 'But you should think about this: _I know you, James Potter_. I know what drives you to do what you do. And I'm going to tell you that you'll achieve more with the Avengers than you ever could on your own. You want to wipe out your mistakes? We'll help you do it; we all have things we want to wipe out ourselves.'

She moved away from him before her words had had time to sink in, and she was halfway through the door by the time he'd found his voice.

'What about you? What do you want to wipe out?'

She turned in the doorway to face him for a moment, the light from the hallway lighting up her hair like a halo of fire, and he could see that she was sizing up whether to answer.

When she spoke, her voice was quiet. 'The red in my ledger.'

Then she was gone.

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******A/N: So I'm sure everyone got that James was Spiderman and Lily was Black Widow here; this one was based partially on a Tumblr gifset.  
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	4. Coffee and Bad Shirts

********Prompt: Muggle coffee shop AU  
><strong>******

********Rating: T********

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James tapped his fingertips on the countertop impatiently before he realised what he was doing and returned to compulsively checking his watch. He should never have stopped, he didn't have time and he knew it, but _God_, if he got to the office without a coffee, at least four people were getting fired in the first hour, and probably only one would deserve it.

He'd never thought he'd be anyone's boss; the closest he'd come was captaining the rugby team at Magdalen, and for a long time he'd thought that his future lay in professional sport. He'd certainly never thought that he'd end up at Potter, Black and Lupin, General Solicitors. But then again he'd never thought he'd see the day Remus became a TV personality. He snorted to himself at the thought of it –_ Professor_ Remus Lupin, rock star scientist explaining physics to the masses in his typically self-effacing way.

Mental.

Sirius on the other hand; well, publicist to the stars had probably always been on the cards, and Remus' rise to TV stardom had given his career a much-appreciated boost.

James' too actually. PBL was a well-known and respected firm, but the influx of famous clients that came with Remus had certainly helped to maintain their profile.

'Venti latte, extra shot.' The barista dropped the takeaway cup in front of him, and James reached for it like it was the elixir of life.

He shot a grin and a wink at the pretty blonde girl behind the till as he turned for the door, and it was probably his distraction that caused him to collide with the tall man just coming in.

The cup tipped, and James' found himself suppressing a relieved sigh as the entire contents slopped and spilled over the stranger's rather appallingly fitted shirt, rather than his Hugo Boss suit.

'Sorry, my mistake'

'Sorry?!' The man spluttered, his fingers plucking at the wet fabric. 'Look at my shirt!'

'I am.' James answered, his eyes raking over the unappealing shade of green. 'It's a very interesting colour.'

The stranger's sallow skin was slowly turning red with anger and his black eyes were narrowing; James knew the signs of an impending explosion of temper, of course he did, he was a damn lawyer, but since this guy was obviously going to freak out about this frankly trivial matter, he saw no need to waste his considerable talents trying to calm him down.

'It's ruined!'

'Frankly, I think it's an improvement; even coffee stained is better than that colour.' He commented, turning to dispose of his cup in the nearest bin. 'And I notice that you're not sorry that it took my cup of coffee to make the improvement.'

'Who the hell do you think you are…'

'In a hurry is what I am, so here's my card, send me the dry-cleaning bill. Or better, buy yourself a _new_ shirt, for the love of Christ not in that colour, and send me the bill.'

'You arrogant little…'

'Oh for heaven's sake Sev, he's offered to pay for it, what more do you want?'

The voice had a sharp edge of irritation, and he found himself curious to see its owner so he craned his neck slightly to see past the tall, extremely irritating owner of the hideous shirt.

And then he forgot about the shirt. And the coffee, and the meeting he was now twenty minutes late for. He may have forgotten his own name.

She wasn't tall, but she carried herself as if she was, and her hair fell in soft waves of the deepest red he'd ever seen. That would have been enough to pique his interest, but when she glanced at him to reveal eyes in the most absurdly magnificent shade of green he was sunk.

'Hello.' He offered his hand. 'Terribly sorry about that. I'm James. And you are?'

She glanced quickly, almost imperceptibly at "Sev" before taking his hand. 'Lily. Lily Evans. And this is Severus Snape.'

He looked back up at the dark-haired man and raised a critical eyebrow. 'Unusual name.'

Snape did nothing but glower, and James turned and offered his card to Lily instead. She plucked it from between his fingers and flexed it nervously in her hand as Snape turned incredulous eyes on her.

'You can't seriously accept…'

'Why not Sev?' Those green eyes flashed with temper, and James privately decided that this was totally, _one hundred percent_ worth missing his morning meeting for.

'He said sorry didn't he? He offered to pay for the shirt. What do you want from him? It's not like he can magic it away for you, or get in his sodding time machine and…'

'Lily, he's been a complete arse since the second…'

'He bumped into you, that's all…'

'Please.' Snape snorted. 'He's one of that PBL lot, probably did it on purpose…'

'Do you actually know how ridiculous you sound sometimes?'

Snape didn't seem to have an answer for that, he just stood and stared incredulously at her, then turned on his heel and stormed out.

Lily blew out a long breath as she turned back to James, the faintest hint of a blush creeping up the back of her neck.

'Sorry.' The embarrassment was clear in her voice now. 'He's a little…stressed right now.'

James nodded slowly. 'O-kay. Never mind. Just buy him a shirt would you? Buy two, whatever. Send me the bill.'

'Er, sure, of course I will.' She looked up at him again. 'I really am sorry about him; he's…a little irrational about your firm actually. He, er, works for Riddle and Malfoy.'

James laughed. 'Really? He works with that pair of crusty old tossers? Well, it would put a crimp in my mood that's for sure. And it would explain why he doesn't like PBL.'

'It's not just the professional rivalry.' Lily answered. 'I'm sure you know all about your firm's reputation for partying in a rather extreme way. He's come off the wrong end of your games a few times.'

James grinned at her. 'We work hard, we like to let off steam.'

'Hmm.' Lily hummed her disapproval. 'Not sure that means you need to act like eighteen year olds on your first unsupervised holiday.'

'Sorry about that.' James answered with a straight face. 'We'll work on it, I swear.'

She laughed then, and he liked the way it sounded and the way she didn't try and restrain it and be fucking ladylike like all those women that seemed to swarm around him and his friends these days.

'How did he know I worked for PBL?' He asked suddenly, realising that neither Snape nor Lily had looked at his card.

'It's monogrammed on your briefcase.'

He looked down as if he'd never seen it before. 'So it is.'

'Hmm. Anyway, I'm sure you're late for work, and I'd better go and see if I can calm Sev down…'

'Try chloroform.'

'Is that your_ legal_ advice?' She asked tartly, looking down at his card. 'Might need to brush up on some of the finer points of your legal knowledge…Mr Potter. Mr Potter. _Potter_, Black and Lupin.'

'I'm not that Mr Potter.' James offered helpfully. 'That would be my father.'

'I… said your employees acted like eighteen year olds on their first unsupervised holiday.'

'You did. Possibly the finest description of them that I've ever heard.'

He looked at his watch and mentally cursed. 'Sorry, I really am running disastrously late now. But Lily…' he trailed off, not wholly sure of what he wanted to say. 'I…wouldn't be sorry if you wanted to drop off the bill for the shirts in person. Maybe on Friday?'

'Friday huh?' A lazy grin spread across her face. 'Want me to bring it to your office?'

He smirked back at her. 'How about 7pm at the Dorchester? Sort of a…summit meeting. To open negotiations for my reparations for this morning.'

She looked at him for one long indecisive moment then answered in one long rush. 'I believe I can flex my schedule for you.'

'Excellent.' He gave her one last grin and headed out of the coffee shop, no longer in need of caffeine but in _desperate_ need of a cold shower.

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	5. Professor Potter

******Prompt: Hogwarts AU  
><strong>****

******Rating: M for SMUT, SMUT, NOTHING BUT SMUT. (Have you ever noticed how smut is an anagram of must? I'm sure that must mean something)******

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The corridor was packed, even for a Monday afternoon. Lily was absolutely certain that the Hufflepuff behind her had used the opportunity to cop a feel of her arse, but she was just about managing to resist the temptation to give him boils. Just about. Once more, and the boils were not only happening, they were going in a place he'd be too embarrassed to take to Pomfrey to be treated.

'Miss Evans.' The voice calling to her was loud and imperious, and more familiar than it ought to be. The figure it belonged to was overly tall, annoyingly clever and currently navigating his way through the seething mass of students towards her.

Of course, they get out of the way for_ him,_ she mused inwardly. Professor Potter, striding down the corridor, scattering all before him.

'I need to see you in my office please Miss Evans.' He strode past her with little more than a glance, and she turned to follow in his wake, pleased at least that she was no longer being battered by an assorted collection of schoolbags and elbows.

No-one looked twice at them. No-one ever did. It wasn't uncommon to find Lily and Professor Potter together; ever since she'd transferred in to finish her final year of school at Hogwarts she'd had a certain amount of private tutoring with him to bridge the gap in DADA, a subject that was often overlooked in other wizarding schools.

Even when she'd caught up with the class – which actually hadn't taken very long at all –she'd begun to spend time with him to help him prepare his classes. It was a lonely thing, being transferred into a class full of people who had known each other since they were eleven, and it was nice to be around someone who didn't give two damns about the six years' worth of gossip and interpersonal relationships she'd missed out on.

She watched the back of his head as she walked behind him, at that stupid black hair that stuck up in a hundred different directions, made worse by the amount of time his hand spent buried in it. It was longer now than it had been when she'd started the school year; it was obviously in serious need of a cut, but he apparently lacked either the time or the inclination. It curled up where it touched his collar.

She wanted to tug on it.

He swung the door of his empty classroom open and gestured her inside. She'd taken maybe two paces into the room when she heard the door slam, felt his hand catch her arm and then she was backed up against the nearest desk, head tilted back while he sucked and nipped his way across her neck, her hands buried in that ridiculous black hair just like she'd wanted.

'I'm assuming…that…you…missed me?' She managed the broken sentence between gasps, even as her legs came off the floor to wrap around him.

'I shouldn't have.' He spoke the words directly into the skin of her collarbone, his lips brushing the skin gently, maddeningly, as his unreasonably clever fingers worked their way down the buttons of her blouse, loosening her tie on the way. 'Firstly, because I only saw you this morning; and secondly, because I should _not_ be daydreaming about how you look naked when I'm supposed to be teaching my classes.'

'Why not? I think about what you look like naked when I'm supposed to be learning in mine.'

She wasn't entirely sure whether the sound that came from his throat was a groan or a growl, but either way it felt like it shot a bolt of heat straight through her and her hands left his hair to dive straight for the line of his shirt, tugging it out of his waistband so she could slide underneath and feel muscle and skin.

Her legs tightened around him and pulled him closer, and his head trailed a line of nips and kisses down her throat and to her chest until he was eye-level with her breasts and felt free to release his hands from them and give his mouth free reign.

Those clever, nimble fingers danced over her ribcage, across her waist and down to her thighs, sliding over the skin where it brushed against his shirt and eliciting a shudder from her.

She felt feverish, but that wasn't unusual; he always managed to make her quake and shudder under him with a few simple strokes. He was always heat and strength, and in a world where she felt the constant pressure to be strong and smart he made her feel not only wonderfully, foolishly stupid but also all fluttery and female, like everybody said you shouldn't be, not these days; it wasn't how modern women were, but fuck it, he made her mind wipe itself clean of everything but him and she _didn't care_.

Those hands were under her skirt now, teasing her knickers down her legs - which released their grip on him only long enough to allow the useless clothing to be discarded - and her hands were fumbling for his belt buckle and it felt like only seconds later that he slid into her and everything was pressure and warmth and those long smooth strokes that he knew drove her crazy because they just weren't enough when she was thrown across a desk in his classroom.

But they'd been doing this for weeks now, and she knew him just as well as he knew her, so she pulled his face up to hers and sank them both into a kiss before trailing her lips along the side of his face and nipping his earlobe between her teeth.

His hands clenched on her hips as he lifted her from the desk and spun her around until she was pressed up against the wall, and he was moving faster and harder while her nails raked down his back and her tongue flicked over his ear until they both crashed over the edge and then slumped into each other.

'So,' Lily managed, 'you've missed me today then?'

James' only response was to kiss the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She smiled as she ran a hand through his hair again.

'Only seventy-nine more days.' She said quietly, and he raised his head to look at her.

'Damn school year is too long.'

'You could quit.'

'You could leave.'

'Or we could wait the seventy-nine days and leave together.'

He pressed his forehead to hers. 'Seventy-nine days.'

'I'm looking forward to the scandal.'

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	6. The End Of The World

******Prompt: Zombie Apocalypse  
><strong>****

******Rating: T******

******A/N: I feel it's only fair to say up front that this is my least favourite from Jily week, and is extremely unlikely to be continued.******

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'Get the door, I'll check the windows!' Lily didn't even stop for breath as she crossed the room at breakneck speed, rushing straight towards the windows and checking that the precautions they'd taken earlier were still in effect.

James busied himself with the door, sealing it and adding as many protective enchantments as he could. Inferi were difficult to deal with; they may have been unthinking, ravening corpses, but they were also all but indestructible. They felt no pain, had next to no sense of fear, could not be convinced to turn back, to surrender.

They could only be ended, and then only by one means. And both Potter's were sick of the stench of burning, rotting flesh filling their nostrils.

The mission had been a disaster, like most of the others they'd undertaken recently. Voldemort's army of inferi had spread across the country like a plague; even the muggles were aware that something was very, very wrong, though they were labouring under the misapprehension that they were seeing the effects of a deadly virus that caused psychosis in its victims.

Neither the Ministry nor the Order had seen any point in disabusing them of the notion. It was as good an explanation as any other, and it had the desired effect anyway. The muggles kept up the only precautions that would help against inferi; they barricaded themselves in their homes, travelled in groups and kept a watchful eye at all times when they were outside.

It would have to be enough.

'Done.' Lily turned away from the window, and he could barely see her in the dark of the sealed room, the only illumination the glowing tips of their wands.

'Make some light would you love?'

The few candles in the room burst into light, and the two of them stood silently for a moment as they allowed their hearts to stop racing. They'd run a good half mile back to the safe-house; they'd fought off as many inferi as they could, but spell-casting was tiring after a while, and there had been a solid wall of corpses between them and their objective.

There always was. Sheer superiority in numbers was winning Voldemort this war, even if his numbers were made up of the reanimated dead.

James dropped onto the shabby sofa. 'I wonder how the others are doing.'

Lily joined him and tucked herself into the crook of his arm. 'Better than we did hopefully.'

James took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes tiredly. 'I hope so to. We have to get into _one _of his safehouses. What in the name of Merlin could he want to protect so badly that he'd use so many inferi to defend it?'

Lily shuddered. 'I'm not sure I want to know.'

'I didn't think there was anything he cared about that much, save for himself obviously.' James twiddled a lock of her hair around his finger and tried to forget just for the time being that the streets outside their door were filled with undead monsters, that people were dying, daily, as part of Voldemort's insane drive for power. Certainly, by the time he was done he might well be ruler of the whole damn country, but there'd be no_ people_ left in it to rule.

'I didn't really think it would ever come to this.' Lily's voice was quite in the dimly lit room.

'What's that love?'

'I knew it would be tough, I knew things were going to get bad, but I never thought we'd be barricading ourselves into abandoned buildings to avoid inferi, never thought we'd be this helpless while muggles are slaughtered. I thought we'd stop him before it got this bad. It feels like the end of the world.'

James kissed the top of her head, even as him arm tightened around her. 'It's not. I promise it's not.'

They both stiffened as the unmistakable silver glow of a patronus burst through the wall before sliding to an ungraceful halt in front of them. The great shaggy dog stared at them as it spoke its message in Sirius' familiar tones.

'Need help. Target three. Quickly.'

'Oh, well _shit_.' James was on his feet and moving over to the door to remove his sealing spells.

'Should we…we're not supposed to intervene in each other's missions James.'

He stopped his motions, but kept facing away from her, his eyes fixed on the door. 'I know Lil. But it's _Sirius._ He's…I can't leave him to whatever it is he's facing, anymore than I could not come to you if you needed me.'

She bit her lip anxiously. 'I know. I just…'

'Don't want to mess up any of Dumbledore's plans.' He began moving his wand in his intricate rune patterns again. 'I understand, I do. But if their mission has gone so badly wrong that they need help…'

'Then we need to go, you're right.' She was stood beside him now, wand out and ready as he waited to open the door. He made eye contact, waited for her nod and then flung the door open while she kept her wand trained on the doorway; it had been a recent addition to their security, but a necessary one since the day they had opened the door and found an inferius immediately outside.

There hadn't been one in this building since then, but the Order were all long past taking any chances.

They stepped outside and Lily kept careful watch while James resealed the door. He straightened up and turned to face her. 'Ready?'

She nodded, and in perfect sync with each other they apparated.

The second they felt dizzying motion of apparition stop, they threw themselves to the ground; standard procedure when apparating into fights now, to avoid taking stray curses.

They both lifted their heads and gaped at the scene; it seemed that Remus, Sirius and Peter had gotten all the way to the front door of the ornate manor house they'd been trying to infiltrate before the inferi had closed in, and now their backs were pressed to the locked front door while a mass of at least thirty of the undead moved implacably closer and closer to them.

They could see no Death Eaters though, which was a small mercy; inferi were exhausting to fight, but at least they weren't clever, bloodthirsty and cruel, as so many of Voldemort's lieutenants were.

'Left or right?' James whispered in Lily's ear.

'I'll take right, you go left. Do you think we can fight our way through?'

James shook his head. 'Doubt it. But if we can get some of the ones at the back to turn and fight us instead that should buy them some breathing space.'

'Okay. Love you.'

'Don't do that. We're getting out of this. But I love you too.' He kissed her briefly and then rose into a crouch and moved to the left of the crowd of inferi. She watched him go for a second longer than she should have, then she rose and moved right.

They both began at almost exactly the same time, casting incendio, confringo, anything that caused flame and light. They could both see the ring of light surrounding the three figures of their friends, and they knew that they had adopted the standard auror practice for dealing with inferi, as taught to them by Frank; one person produced wave after wave of flame to create a barrier, and the others tried to pick off the inferi with directed curses.

It was much easier without any Death Eaters present; no spells to dodge. The only thing to worry about was the dreadful reach of the rotting bodies, the mouldering arms reaching out to grab and rip at flesh.

It seemed like they'd been fighting for hours when exhaustion finally caused a grave error; James wasn't quite quick enough, and an inferius raked its nails down his wand arm, making him bellow in pain and lose his grip on his wand.

Lily was moving towards him before she even had time to think; she leaped over burned bodies and threw hexes indiscriminately.

She landed next to James and conjured flames around the two of them. They'd only last a moment, but every moment bought was precious.

'Pass me my wand, I'm fine.'

She almost snarled at him. 'You can't even close your hand to grip it.'

'I can try. I'll use my other hand.'

'Don't be such a fucking hero! We'll…we'll think of something to get us all out of here. Just…give me a minute, I'll think of something, I'll…' She trailed off on a broken sob.

'Lily…Lily, don't…'

They were both knocked flat to the ground by a sudden roar of flames, and the fire that poured over the massed group of inferi formed shapes, eagles, dragons, chimeras as it rushed and swirled through the main body of the creatures.

Lily's shocked eyes met James' briefly, before she turned her attention back to keeping the inferi away from them.

'Please tell me that Sirius did _not_ just cast fiendfyre!'

'Er…Sirius did not just cast fiendfyre?' James managed weakly.

'The stupid arse.' She growled as she lit up another two inferi. 'Does he even know how to control it?'

'Maybe?'

'Oh for fuck's sake.'

There were no inferi near them now, and the heat was far too much for them to bear so they backed away, their eyes locked on their friends in the midst of the fire, protected from it by what looked like hasty partis temporus charms from Remus and Peter.

It seemed to go on forever, but it could not have been more than a few moments before the cursed fire had rendered every inferius a charred ruin of a body. The fire animals disappeared, and Sirius moved towards them, Remus and Peter in his wake.

'Thanks Prongs, Lil. Getting a little close for comfort till you arrived.'

'Fiendfyre Padfoot?' James' eyebrows rose as he looked at his best friend with a certain amount of exasperation.

Sirius shrugged. 'Desperate times.'

Lily snorted, and he grinned at her cheerfully. 'So,' he continued, 'anyone else interested in exactly what they were guarding in there?'

The five of them turned to look at the house, their apprehension mounting.

'Well, we came this far.' Remus said sombrely.

'We don't have much of a choice. No-one has gotten near a Death Eater stronghold before. We have to risk it.' Lily didn't take her eyes off the house as she spoke, but she was grateful when she felt James' hand enclose hers.

'In we go then.' He squeezed her hand gently in support.

They walked towards the house, hoping that they might find something that heralded the beginning of the end of this apocalyptic nightmare.

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	7. What A Tangled Web We Weave

******Prompt: Disney Crossover (There are absolutely no points for guessing the Disney film, it's pretty obvious from the start)******

******Rating: K******

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The palace guards were halfway decent, which was an unpleasant surprise. Dodging crossbow bolts was _not _James' favourite pastime. It was not normal for hired guards to be this persistent; they usually chased you a few hundred yards and then gave up, either too lazy or too unfit to pursue much further, at least in his – rather extensive – experience they did.

Coming across guards who would not only chase you out of the palace but through the city and into the woods was something he could have done without. Still, at least he'd managed to ditch those two morons he'd called partners for a brief period of time. With any luck the guards would find them and become too preoccupied with their catch to chase him.

Though that was doubtful, given that he still had the diadem.

And anyway, even if they did give up, those bloody wanted posters were strewn across the country, not that they looked like him, bloody incompetent artists.

Besides, the guards themselves were the least of his problems right now; he'd settle for getting away from this _sodding horse_. He was crouching behind a rock, and he could hear the lunatic beast prowling around nearby, and he was sure it wouldn't be long until it found him; he moved towards the cliff behind him, wondering if he could hide himself in the greenery that hung down its face.

James pressed himself against the face of the cliff and tried to slip behind the vines, when to his utter shock he fell through the tangle of foliage into a hidden cave. Barely a moment later the outline of the horse was shadowed on the hanging vines, and he stayed perfectly still, not even breathing until he was certain the mad creature had passed by.

He rose to his feet and walked through the cave, realising that it opened out into a small canyon, totally concealed by the cliffs that surrounded it. There was a tower in the middle of it, which was a bit of a head-scratcher because who the hell would want to live all the way out here? Still, a hiding place was a hiding place, and who was he to ignore serendipity?

He pulled a small pick out of his pack and began to scale the outside of the tower; it took much longer than he thought, and James felt a ridiculous sense of relief when he tumbled through the little window into the tower.

Or at least he did until something hit him in the head.

He'd experienced nothing in his life more unpleasant than being woken by a chameleon sticking its tongue in his ear. His eyes darted around the room as he took in his situation; he was in a circle of light in a darkened room, he was tied to a chair by an unseen assailant, and he was in a remote tower in a hidden canyon.

Should be interesting to see how this one played out.

'I'd stop struggling if I was you.' There was something odd about the voice, though he wasn't certain what it was.

'You won't be able to get the bonds off.' The voice continued calmly. 'Believe me.'

'Then what do I have to do to get out of them?' James asked calmly.

There was no response, and for a moment he wondered if his captor had left, but then a silhouette appeared on his right, and as it slowly moved into the light it became a beautiful young woman.

She was around his age, red-headed and pale, and she had astoundingly green eyes. She looked confident, until you looked closer and saw the nerves showing themselves in a thousand little ways.

'Tell me how you found this place.' Like that barest hint of a tremble in her voice.

'I'd assume Fate?' He suggested, offering her his most charming smile. 'I'm James Potter, and I have to believe that it had to be some shared destiny that brought me to you…'

'Spare me.' She interrupted, rolling her eyes. 'I'd like an answer, not an attempt to date me.'

'An accident.' James answered smoothly, pleased that he had the opportunity to tell at least partial truths; it was much easier to sell a story that had some basis in reality. 'I was being chased, I needed to hide, and I stumbled into this place.'

He suddenly recalled the diadem, and began to crane his neck as he looked around.

'Looking for your crown?'

'Diadem.' He corrected. 'And yes actually, it's rather important.'

'Is that so.' She leaned against the wall and pretended to examine her nails. 'You'll be wanting it back then.'

'That would be lovely.' James answered. 'But then again, so would untying me.'

'Hmmm.' She moved towards him slightly. 'Then I suggest a trade. You know, since there is absolutely no way that you'll be able to find it without my help.'

'Listen, Red…'

'Lily.'

'Whatever. Listen, I don't have time for games, I really,_ really_ need to get that diadem.'

'And you can have it.' Lily announced. '_After_ you've done something for me; take me to see what it is that lights up the sky to the North. The green lights that make a shape.'

He started at that, though he covered it well. If she could see Voldemort's magical signals, then_ she_ was magical. If she didn't know what she was seeing though, then she almost certainly didn't _know_ she was magical. He'd have to bluff this as best he could anyway, just in case.

'Why don't you just take yourself?'

She looked down. 'I don't know the way, or how long it would take or _anything_. I haven't left this tower since I was 11.'

He was aware that his shock showed on his face. 'Why not?'

She wrapped her arms around her waist and stared into the distance. 'Severus says that it's dangerous for me to go out there. Something to do with who my parents were.'

'And Severus would be…?'

'My friend.' She answered quietly. 'He said my parents made him my protector; when they were killed, he brought me here and hid me. He said people would pursue me, because of who my parents were. He brings me food, books, whatever I need.'

'But he doesn't let you leave.'

She turned back to him. 'He's just worried; he says that the world is too dangerous for me.'

'He might be right.' The first full truth he'd told her. She was magical, and she didn't appear to know it. Someone had gone to some trouble to hide her – by magical means, he realised now, the entrance to the canyon had been much too well-concealed – so there was a reason for that. Taking her out into the world was a big risk for _her_; taking her so close to Voldemort's stronghold was a big risk for _him_.

But there was no way he could tell her to stay well clear of those lights without explaining what they were, and he probably shouldn't do that until he knew more about why she was locked in a tower, so he should knock her out and….oh damn it. He hadn't considered accidental magic. That was why the bonds tying him to the chair were so strong; she'd magically reinforced them without realising she was doing it. If she was doing that kind of thing, then she had almost certainly added magical enhancement when she'd hidden the diadem.

The possibility of him getting out of magical bonds, stupefying her safely and then successfully locating the diadem was extremely slim. Especially when he had no way of assessing how advanced her magic might be. Although, he thought as he flexed his wrists, the bonds were _extremely_ tight and strong, which suggested a lot of raw power at the very least.

Okay then. One option left; gain her co-operation. He wasn't one of the best Order operatives for nothing.

'But I can take you to see them. And then we come back, and you give me back the diadem.'

She smiled at him, and he felt no guilt for his lies.

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**A/N: To be honest, this was hard to write but it also made me extremely happy because I got to put Severus Snape in the role of Mother Gothel. **


	8. Old Chasers and Young Seekers

**Prompt: AU where James and Lily live and go to see Harry in his first game of quidditch at Hogwarts.**

**Rating: T**

**A/N: Fair warning, there's no way I'm writing an entire 'Jily survives' AU, so you won't be seeing anything more than some additional one-shots for this one.**

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'You do know that he's going to be immensely embarrassed by this don't you?' The words were spoken laughingly, but James knew Lily well enough after twelve years of marriage to recognise the undertone of worry.

He pulled her closer and dropped her hand in favour of wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they strolled up the lane from Hogsmeade. 'Come on love, you know that's not true. He'll _pretend_ to be embarrassed, but you know he'll be glad that we're here. Remember how nervous he was when we put him on the train? He'll probably be even worse today.'

Lily gave him a sideways glance. 'And this has nothing to do with you being eager to relive your glory days on the Quidditch field of course?'

James gave her a look of mock injury and slapped a hand over his heart. 'Lily, I'm truly hurt.'

'Yeah, yeah.' She stopped and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. Whatever her worries that she would be inadvertently upsetting her son, if she was honest she was thrilled to be at Hogwarts to watch him play. She missed seeing him fly, seeing the fierce joy on his face as he swooped through the air, his movements and expressions so like his father's.

'We could relive a few memories while we're here.' He murmured the words into her ear as his hands feathered over her sides.

She pulled away to look up at him scathingly. 'McGonagall gave us special permission to be here because our son is the _youngest seeker in a century_, but that does not mean that she won't revoke it if she catches us snogging under the Gryffindor stands.'

His lips came down on the soft patch of skin just below her left ear. 'Who said anything about snogging? I had something else in mind.'

'I just bet.' Lily's head tilted back to allow James' lips to glide over her skin more easily. Twelve years of marriage, and he still made her feel like a stupid teenager at least once a day, reckless and stupid and full of _feelings _that she didn't quite understand and never fully had the measure of.

His lips were drifting a gentle path along her jawbone, clogging up her senses and making her thoughts fuzzy. The reasons for not snogging – or anything else James had in mind – under the stands were growing dimmer in her head, burnt away a little more with every soft caress of his lips.

He'd always been able to this to her, _always_, and you'd think she develop some sort of immunity to it but instead time had simply honed his abilities, and he used his talent for rendering her incoherent shamelessly to his advantage.

She was just contemplating suggesting that maybe his idea about reliving their school days – at least the last few months of them - might have _some _merit when a booming voice greeted them.

'James. Lily.' Hagrid wandered past, heading for the school gates and apparently totally unfazed by the sight of the two of them in the middle of the road. 'Nice ter see yer. 'Ere to see yer boy play? 'E's a natural tha' one.'

Hagrid kept walking, but his interruption brought Lily back to her senses and she whacked James across the back of the head as she backed out of his embrace.

'Ow! Bloody Merlin woman, what was that for?'

'For exploiting my weaknesses Potter.' She pointed an admonitory finger at him. 'We agreed you'd only use your powers for good, remember?'

'It _would_ have been good.' James sulked. 'I'm willing to bet it would have been bloody _fantastic _actually.'

'Shame you'll never get to find out then.' Lily marched off towards the school gates, and after a moment James trailed after her, muttering to himself about violent wives and half-giants with bad timing.

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	9. Rare Kisses

******Prompt: Drabble based on this post: .com (/) post (/) 63950076095******

******Rating: T******

******A/N: This is 100% a one-shot, no follow ups!******

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Sometimes it seemed more like a dream than reality. The red-haired girl who threw her head back when she laughed, who could drink even Sirius under the table without a second thought, who fought with ferocity and focus and then cried over her fallen companions when the fight was done, had _always _been too good to have been real.

The girl he'd kissed in a London park under a night sky and a cold half-moon, his hands hesitantly on her hips as he brought his mouth down on hers. He'd felt her pulse stutter, felt her body stiffen slightly before he felt her lips curve up under his, felt her hands slide around the back of his neck and into his hair to twine strands of it around her fingers. His heart had been pounding an unknown rhythm behind his ribs, and if his hands had touched her bare skin their clamminess would have betrayed his nerves.

She was gone the next day. They wouldn't tell him where; the Order was notoriously close-mouthed, even with its own members. Paranoia was a hallmark of a society at war.

The first week afterwards, he'd been drunk. Blind, stinking drunk. He wouldn't have had any idea how long that stage of his depression had lasted if it hadn't been for Remus yelling at him as he sobered him up by dunking him repeatedly in a fountain. If the water hadn't done its job, the cold of the November air once he'd been released most certainly had. He'd been shut up in his room with a lousy cold for the fortnight following that, and then when he'd emerged from his room, he'd gone down a different path of self-destruction.

He couldn't count the number of women he'd kissed over the next few months, but then he couldn't remember any of their names either. They were a dull, meaningless blur of blonde, brunette, blue eyes, brown eyes, pale skin, tanned skin. And they were all pale, washed out, and empty compared to _her._

So he'd stopped. He knew that Sirius, Remus and Peter all watched him constantly, waiting for him to fall back into drinking or debauchery, but he poured his effort and energies into his Order work instead, as he should have done from the start.

He ran more missions than anyone else, did more research, more reconnaissance. He didn't sleep more than four hours a night, because sleep brought dreams, and he lost weight thanks to his complete lack of appetite, but at least he wasn't imploding anymore.

Until four days ago.

When he'd walked into a room at Headquarters, and green eyes in a pale face had sought him, found him. When he'd seen that mass of red hair, curling at the ends just like he remembered. When that mouth that he'd kissed so fiercely, that he'd spent months trying to wipe out and replace with the memory of another, had lifted just ever so slightly at the corners. He'd turned around instantly and walked out, pushing past his friends, barely seeing the other Order members as he left the building without a coherent thought in his head.

He'd thought that he'd be okay today, thought he'd be able to walk into the room where she was and be fine with it, but one glimpse of her had been enough to send him on his heels, straight back out the door he'd just come through and heading down the street with no clear destination in mind.

It was ridiculously perverse, that he'd spent so long wishing for her, and now he couldn't spend two seconds with her because just looking at her _hurt _somewhere deep in his chest.

'James!'

He heard her – he thought he would have heard her from the other side of the world, if she'd so much as whispered his name – but he didn't stop, he just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

'James! I'm sorry!'

She caught up with him then, passing him at a jog and stopping dead in front of him, her hands coming up to his chest to brace themselves against him and force him to stop and face her.

'I'm sorry, but you know what it's like, _you know_, they tell you what to do, and you do it, _and I wasn't allowed to tell you. _I wanted to, for the first time ever I questioned where my loyalties lay, _because of you_. I…I…'

She stopped talking then, and James thought she had simply run out of breath, but apparently that _wasn't _the case, since she launched herself at him.

Her mouth landed on his, and in the instant of that first brush of lips the last several months dissolved and he was back in that London park, feeling her mouth on his for the first time, and nothing else mattered; not her long absence, not the Order meeting they were missing, not the self-abuse he'd dished out to his body when she wasn't there anymore.

Her hands clung to his upper arms, his fingers wound into her hair, and they pressed against each other, their bodies lining up as easily as they had on that November night, and he thought that he would never fit anyone else, never _want _anyone else like he wanted her.

They didn't make it to the meeting. They didn't make it to Headquarters the next day either, not even when Moody sent an irritable patronus; they weren't going anywhere for the time being, not when she asked if she could kiss him again and the only word he could find was 'yes'. They were owed some lost time after all.

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	10. Just Your Average College Students

**Prompt: A university muggle AU where they're already dating.**

**Rating: T**

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'So, did you get the assignment for Professor Harvey done?' Lily took a swig of water before stuffing her apple into her backpack and swinging it up onto her shoulder.

Remus grimaced. 'Three thousand words on the history of the Greek city-state? I wrote it, but I can't say I'm happy with it.'

'Me neither.' Lily shrugged. 'But what the hell, at least we did it, which is more than I can say for James.'

Remus laughed as the two of them pushed their way through the crowd gathered in the refectory. 'There's absolutely no chance of James turning in an assignment if he knows it doesn't count towards his overall grade. Unlike the rest of us, he doesn't really need to continually revise his subjects. He just turns up to class, listens to the lectures and remembers it all. If he weren't one of my best mates I'd hate him.'

Lily grinned. 'I always forget that you've known him forever. So he's always been so…' she waved her arms vaguely, 'effortlessly clever?'

'Oh God yes.' Remus shook his head. 'You can't possibly appreciate how infuriating seven years of school with him and Sirius was.'

He held open the door of the lecture theatre for her, and they made their way in. Lily spotted James' hair straight away and headed towards him. He was sprawled in one of the chairs, his notepad on the desk in front of him and his pen was bouncing off it impatiently. Lily slid into the seat next to him, Remus dropping down on her other side, and she had time to grin at James before the lights dimmed and Professor Rankov turned on the projector.

He'd been talking about Charlemagne for about five minutes before a balled up piece of paper landed on Lily's notepad. She glanced at James, who was innocently staring ahead as if he found Professor Rankov's hand-drawn timeline history of the Germanic Franks fascinating.

She unrolled the note.

**Your hair is pretty today.**

She rolled her eyes and scribbled three words. _So is yours._

She threw it back at him. And pretended that she didn't see him grin and pick up his pen.

**I like your dress.**

_Really._

**Yeah. Skimpy. I'm a fan.**

_You're a pervert. _

**I'm ****_your_**** pervert. **

_That's just disgusting._

There was a brief flurry of activity then as the Professor passed out hand-outs, but the class had barely settled down before another note dropped on Lily' notepad.

**So I have a very important question about your dress.**

_I'm certain I'm going to regret asking this, but what?_

**What's under it?**

_If you're a good boy, you might even find out later. _

She grinned as he had a minor coughing fit before scribbling out a response.

**You're killing me.**

_I hope not. I have some plans for later that you can help me with. You __**are**__ good with your hands aren't you?'_

A second coughing fit had Lily desperately trying to hide her giggles behind her hand.

'Mr Potter, are you quite alright?' The exasperated voice of Professor Rankov broke into their private little world.

'I'm fine.' James spluttered between coughs.

'Perhaps you should go outside until you've quite regained your composure.' The Professor glowered and turned back to the blackboard, and James took the opportunity to grab his notebook and bag and slide out of his seat to head for the door.

Lily glanced once at Remus, who smirked, before slipping out of her chair and following James out the door.

He wasn't immediately outside, and she paused for a moment to wonder which direction he would have gone in. A hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her around a corner, and she felt her breathing steady once James' face came into view, only inches from hers.

'You, Lily Evans, are a tease.'

He lifted his hand from her mouth and she grinned at him. 'Who says I was teasing? And you're lucky I know how your hands feel, because if I hadn't realised that it was you then you'd be braying like a jackass right now for that little move.'

James' teeth nipped at her ear. 'Getting all aggressive? That's no way to cool me off Miss Evans.'

'Again, who says I'm trying to?' Lily's hands slid up his back under his shirt, and then her nails scratched their way back down.

James groaned. 'Right, your place is nearest.' He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the exit, ignoring her giggled half-complaints.

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	11. Keep Your Enemies Closer

**Prompt: Superhero AU where James and Lily are dating but they're also enemies.**

**Rating: T**

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Well, wasn't this just peachy? Why did the forces of evil always decide to attack on significant dates?

She was supposed to be cooking dinner. An _anniversary _dinner. And that was a big deal, not just because it was an anniversary but because it was_ dinner_, and anyone who knew Lily could tell you that she was quite possibly the worst cook in the history of mankind. She had consulted at least fifteen different cookbooks and had selected a recipe for its reputed simplicity; she'd bought ingredients; made the table look all pretty. And now here she was, climbing a skyscraper when she ought to have been blanching asparagus.

Lily scaled the building easily, moving easily from one set of hand and footholds to the next. Of course, the elasticity helped – no pesky reaching. She could see the flames flickering out of the windows somewhere high above her, and hear the shattering glass from inside one of the upper floors.

Bloody idiot, in his stupid bloody costume and that idiotic paint smeared across his face. Who attacks a charity dinner at the top of a skyscraper?

'_Someone please stop him_.' She muttered in a sarcastic voice, remembering the pleading woman on the news report. '_Please, my husband's up there, someone do something_. Sure lady, I'll bail on my anniversary dinner to scale a skyscraper and stop a rampaging lunatic from slaughtering your husband and numerous others.'

'Not that anyone will thank me. And my poor long-suffering boyfriend will forgive me for yet another screwed up evening, because that's just how James is.'

She reached the 45th floor, where the party was supposed to be being held, and smashed a window before rolling in through it and landing in a cat-like crouch. It wasn't like he'd be difficult to find. Just follow the screams.

Only it wasn't that simple was it? Because a red blur passed her as she made her way stealthily towards the sounds of trouble. A red blur that could only mean one thing.

That super speedy _moron_. He of the messy hair and stupid smirk, whose hazel eyes could be seen through his strip of a mask, who always seemed to turn up _and get in her way._

She rushed after him, allowing her legs to stretch out to increase the length of her stride. She tackled him just before he could enter the function room, and they rolled across the floor together.

'How mental are you?' He demanded, once they'd rolled to a stop and he'd yanked her around a corner and out of sight of the door. 'Don't tackle _me_, I'm the hero here!'

'What you are, is unwanted!' Lily hissed. 'I can handle this, so do me a favour and bugger off!'

His jaw set in that annoyingly arrogant way he'd perfected. 'I'm here now, so there's no point in me buggering off and leaving you to it is there? We might as well _both_ kick his arse. You aren't the only one he's been pissing off you know.'

Lily looked at him speculatively. She'd not come across this solemn, serious side of him all that often – he had a flair for theatrics and a tendency to showboat – and it unnerved her a little. But he was right; they were both here, there were lives at stake, and between them they could spot a stop to it in minutes most likely.

She swallowed down the instinctively barbed retort that wanted to leave her mouth and nodded her agreement.

'There are two entrances to the room. You take one, I take the other and we improvise the rest?'

He grinned. 'Sounds good to me.'

His smile was oddly infectious, and she found herself grinning back for a second before she caught herself.

'Right, let's get going then.'

His lips twitched. 'Sure thing boss.'

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James slipped through the door of his girlfriend's apartment, sniffing at his clothes one last time to make sure no lingering traces of fire or blood remained on his freshly-showered skin.

'Lily?' He called out, sincerely hoping that she wasn't too pissed at him for his lateness. It was an anniversary dinner after all.

No answer. Weird.

He made his way into the kitchen and found all the ingredients for tonight's meal laid out neatly on the sideboard. James smiled to himself. She was a lousy cook, that much was true, but she really, really tried.

A muffled thump came from Lily's bedroom, and James frowned as he headed in that direction.

He pushed the door open, and froze.

So did Lily. Only it was the worst thing she could have done, since she was half in, half out of her costume.

'James, I can explain…'

He lifted a hand to cut her off. 'Don't.'

'No James, really…'

'Lily.' He said slowly. 'I mean it, don't.'

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of red cloth. A mask. An extremely _familiar _mask.

Lily's breath caught. '_You_.'

'So I guess we need to explain to each other.'

She nodded, and as she moved James caught sight of a nasty scrape down the side of her face. He crossed the room to her in a blur of speed and caught her chin in one hand.

'You got hurt.'

'It happens.' Lily murmured.

'Yeah, I know, it just…it never occurred to me that…you were the one it happened to. All those times…it was just some girl in a costume to me.'

Lily's hand came up to cover his. 'If it makes you feel any better…I never gave a second thought to what happened to you when you were in costume.'

He managed a very faint smile. 'I don't know that it does. But, as it happens, I do know what will…'

His lips brushed hers, very lightly and softly, and for a moment there was hesitation on both of their parts as they wondered how much things had changed because of this. But this felt exactly the same as it always had, so perhaps their alter-egos didn't really mean much at all. With this in mind James pulled her closer, lips moving more firmly, and he had to fight a smirk as his hands brushed the green spandex that she was still half-clothed in.

Whatever else she was, the most important thing was that she was Lily.

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	12. Lily Black

**Prompt: A drabble where Lily is Sirius' sister and there is Jily.**

**Rating: T**

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'OW, fucking hell!' James rubbed the rapidly reddening scratch on his hand and glowered at his best mate, who returned his scowl and raised him an offensive gesture.

'Stop. Looking. At. My. Sister.' Sirius hissed the words between gritted teeth, his annoyance only growing when James' eyes instantly flicked back to the girl he'd been ogling right before Sirius had stabbed the back of his hand with his quill.

'How come she has red hair? I've always meant to ask where in your family tree she got red hair from.' James continued his appraisal, apparently either unaware of, or unconcerned by, his friend's slowly increasing blood pressure.

'I mean it James, keep your filthy hooves off!' Sirius gestured threateningly with his quill.

'What's your problem Padfoot?' James asked, his eyebrows rising challengingly as he ceased his minute examination of Lily Black, best looking fifth year prefect in the history of _ever_, in favour of meeting his best mate's gaze.

'My _problem_, since you ask, is that you are mentally undressing my baby sister.'

James' eyes drifted back over the girl in question. 'One thing your sister definitely is _not_, Padfoot, is a baby. OW, fucking ow!'

Madam Pince ejected them from the library by the simple expedient of levitating them both out of the doors, and the fight continued all the way up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower and the sixth year boys' dorm.

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It was always nice to sit at the top of the astronomy tower at night. When there wasn't a class obviously. A group of students yammering away would have sort of defeated the point of escaping the common room.

'Pretty stars tonight.' The unexpected, and extremely male, voice behind her made Lily jump and she swayed perilously out over the rail as he balance faltered.

Large calloused hands clamped onto her hips and steadied her before lifting off respectfully. James Potter stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned on one elbow onto the stone balustrade alongside her, hazel eyes twinkling at her in that stupidly stomach-flipping way. 'Looking into your horoscope?'

'No.' Lily answered quietly, keeping her eyes away from him. 'No, I'm pretty sure all that's bollocks actually.'

James laughed quietly. 'That's what I like about you Lily Black: you say what you think. Even when it's not what people want to hear.'

Lily hunched her shoulders. 'Well, count yourself in the minority then, most people prefer a little more sugar-coating. Apparently my particular brand of frankness isn't always appreciated.'

'Is that what you're doing up here? Avoiding people who don't appreciate your frankness?'

She shrugged. 'Just avoiding people in general. I don't like most people that much.'

'A Black family trait in many ways.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Please do not compare me to my idiot of a brother.'

'Your brother's alright.' James looked amused at Lily's huff of irritation. 'He_ is_. He's always sticking up for _you_.'

'I don't need him to.'

'I know_ that_.' James winked at her. 'It's not like I've never felt the wrong end of your wand.' She blushed, and he found it adorable. 'But like I was saying, whether you need him to or not, he always sticks up for you. Even yells at _me _when it's over you.'

Lily's face registered her confusion. 'Why would you be arguing over me?'

James turned to her, his expression momentarily indecisive, but then he closed the small gap between them with a single step and placed his hands on her cheeks, gently cradling her face. 'It might have a little something to do with the fact that I've spent the last several months resisting the burning desire to do this.'

His lips brushed hers gently, softly, and she felt the tension ease out of her posture as his hands stayed gentle on her cheeks and his mouth neither asked nor demanded anything from her. She pressed a little closer to him, her hands hesitating only briefly before they lifted up to rest on his shoulders.

They swayed together for a few moments, lips lightly meeting again and again in an incredibly soft kiss, before James pulled away and rested his forehead on hers.

'I feel like you should know…that Sirius is going to kill me.'

Lily smiled, a little shyly. 'You can hide behind me if you like.'

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	13. The Auror and the Chaser

**Prompt: Jily AU ((No war)) Puddlemere United Chaser James Potter and Auror Lily Evans meet again at some formal gathering or something 3 years after their *ended relationship* at Hogwarts. **

**Rating: T**

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James threw a quick glance over his shoulder, and once he was absolutely sure that no-one was watching him, he opened the balcony door and slipped out. He took a few deep breaths before he crossed the balcony to lean his elbows on the cold stone balustrade as he looked out at the gardens.

Funny, there'd been a time when he actually enjoyed these Quidditch League events. When the continuous whirl of parties and press conferences and interviews that came with being a professional Quidditch player had actually seemed fun. That had worn off after a year or so. Repeating answers to the same questions, seeing the same people continually – people you didn't even particularly like and probably wouldn't choose to spend time with – having an endless line of indistinguishable women smile and flirt at you…it got old very quickly.

He still loved Quidditch - the game and the League – he loved the fans, the adrenaline of playing, even the constant, draining travelling. He still loved Puddlemere, and his teammates, and his coach, who'd signed an eighteen year old straight out of Hogwarts and given him a shot at first string playing in his first season.

But the additional stuff…it got a bit wearing after a while to be honest.

A door further along the balcony cracked open, and a petite figure slipped out before closing the door quietly behind her and leaning on it with a relieved sigh. She hadn't noticed him, and he took the opportunity to watch her for a moment. She tilted her head back to rest it against the door, and he could see her ribcage moving deeply and evenly, as if she was focusing on her breathing.

'Are you okay?' James asked, keeping his voice low and soft in the quiet of the dark.

Her head jerked up abruptly, and he heard her sharp intake of breath as she finally noticed him. 'Fine.' She answered after a moment. 'Thank you. I'm just…there's someone in there I'd rather avoid, and he's making it very hard to do so. I didn't realise there was anyone else out here.'

He knew that voice, would have recognised the edge that irritation put in her vowels anywhere. He'd been the cause of said irritation on more than one occasion after all. 'Lily?'

'Yes?' Her tone was suspicious, and he recognised the single word as the question it really was.

'It's me. James. Potter, that is.'

He took a few steps towards her, and her face came into focus as he moved out of the shadows and into the better lit section of the balcony.

'James.' She breathed. '_Oh_. Of course, I should have known that you'd be here. I…didn't think.'

He shrugged, his eyes still on her face. Three years, and she looked exactly the same. 'Why would you?'

She looked down at her feet, and he wondered if his tone had been a little sharp. He hadn't meant it to be, but old wounds were easily opened.

'I should have.' She said quietly. 'I've followed Puddlemere since you've been playing, I should have realised that the entire team would be at something like this.'

He regarded her quietly for a moment, before deciding to break the uncomfortable silence. 'How have you been Lily? I haven't seen you at all in the three years since Hogwarts.'

She smiled at last. 'I've been okay thanks. I'm an auror now.'

'Wow.' He couldn't help the laugh that escaped. 'I wouldn't have pictured it. I always thought you'd go for something a bit more studious…you know, more academic, less active.'

'What can I say, I decided I needed some excitement in my life.' Lily smiled again, and it was odd but it wasn't as painful as he'd thought it would be, to see her happy.

'It's good that you're happy.' He glanced around. 'Though I would like to point out that you are currently hiding from someone on a balcony.'

Lily rolled her eyes, another familiar gesture that made his stomach squirm oddly. 'A colleague who firmly believes that we should be _more_ than colleagues, who is utterly incapable of listening to me when I turn him down. He seems to think I'm playing hard to get.'

James grinned at her. 'Maybe you should agree to go out with him and just make sure it's the worst date ever.'

'Oh, thanks for the advice Casanova.' Her sarcasm sent his grin into a full-out smirk. Merlin he'd missed her, missed her quick wit and intelligent arguments.

'I should go back in.' She continued. 'The speeches are happening in a few minutes, and if I make Moody look for me he'll probably make me wish I hadn't.'

James nodded in acknowledgment, not sure what he could say, and she opened the door behind her and turned to go in.

She paused for a second in the open doorway. 'Maybe I'll talk to you again later?'

James inclined his head, and watched the door slam shut behind her.

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Lily didn't hear a word of Moody's speech, nor of the Minister's. She didn't even notice the Captains from every team in the Quidditch League stand up on stage for their photo opportunity. The only thought in her head was James Potter.

He'd been…well, her first really, in almost every respect. They'd been together for more than six months at school; it had been a slow burning attraction that had become unavoidable after they'd both become Heads. They'd been happy, ridiculously so. And now…now she thought about it she couldn't quite remember what had caused them to split up. There'd been some arguments, none of which had been important, but they'd let them fester until the rift between them had seemed insurmountable. She wasn't sure it had ever been a case of either of them not loving each either anymore.

The room burst into applause, and after a moment of startled bewilderment Lily remembered herself and joined in.

The music began again, the crowd broke up into smaller groups and Lily's obligations were officially over. She could leave anytime, and she'd planned to go immediately after the speeches to reduce the possibility of being cornered by Clayton McLaggen, fellow auror and chief pain in her arse. The thing was, now she felt a pull to stay, and she knew she was in trouble because she recognised that the pull was one James Potter, and the possibility of speaking to him again.

She wandered over to the bar and ordered a butterbeer – while she wasn't on duty, auror habits were fairly compulsive – and had taken no more than a sip when a smarmy, far too-familiar voice spoke in her ear.

'Found you at last.'

She closed her eyes and cursed silently but vociferously. 'Clayton.'

'Don't you look lovely this evening?' His eyes swept up and down the length of her body, and she repressed the urge to pop him one.

'Thanks.'

'So.' He propped himself up on his elbow alongside her. 'Let's dance shall we?'

Lily sighed. 'I don't think so Clayton.'

'Come on now Lily, you can't avoid this forever. The_ chemistry_. I know you have concerns about dating within the confines of work…'

'Not concerns Clayton. A rule. One that I won't be bending.' Lily interrupted, and made her tone a little sharper. Anyone with a hint of social aptitude would have picked up on the signals. Unfortunately, this was Clayton McLaggen.

'I think we should dance Lily, and see how you feel after that. I'm a fantastic dancer did you know?'

Lily bit her lip and prayed for patience, and was about to rebuff him yet again when a wonderfully familiar voice cut in.

'What a coincidence. It just so happens that I'm a fantastic dancer too.' James beamed at the two of them. 'Lily?'

He held out his hand, and she took it without a moment's hesitation, letting him tug her away from the bar and towards the dancing couples. It was surprisingly comforting and familiar, to have him pull her along behind him, to have to lengthen her stride to keep pace with his longer legs. A remembered habit.

There was a moment of awkwardness when they reached the dance floor, but James placed a gentle hand on her waist and caught her other, and then they joined the other couples in the sedate swirling of a formal dance. It was another odd moment of déjà vu, another trigger for a set of old memories.

'So. You have an unwelcome admirer?'

Lily tilted her head back so that she could see his face. One corner of his mouth was pulled up in a half grin, and he was looking right back down at her.

'Hmm. He has hide like a Hungarian Horntail. Cannot take a hint, or an outright rejection in fact.'

'You need a new technique then.'

'I'm contemplating the Imperius curse.'

James laughed. 'Well, if it's that or Avada Kedavra…'

'Maybe a love potion.' Lily mused. 'I was always good at those. Maybe I can find some truly awful woman – you know, one who really _deserves_ him - and direct his affections towards her.'

James grinned down at her. 'Well that's a plan worthy of the Marauders if ever I heard one. Want some help with that?'

Lily smiled back. 'I think I'm good.'

'I know you are.' He murmured, and she felt her cheeks flush a little. 'So maybe there's something else I can do…like maybe be some competition? I mean…I could take you on a date. That might be just the thing to put him off. Dating someone else.'

She would have sworn she saw the lights dim and the rest of the room fall away. She would have sworn it was just her and James, dancing slowly with no-one around them. Then everything rushed back in on her, and her mouth moved without the intervention of her brain.

'I'd really like that.'

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	14. Telling The Difference

**Prompt: James is wrongly accused and thrown into a mental institution. Lily is a therapist who, with countless sessions with James, realizes he's not so insane after all.**

**Rating: T**

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Lily sighed as she leaned back in her chair and observed the young man seated opposite her, glowering back defiantly.

'Mr Potter…James…I can't help if you don't speak to me.'

He raised an eyebrow and adjusted his position in his metal chair, but otherwise gave no indication that he had even heard her.

'Do you want to tell me more about your life?'

Silence buzzed between them for a few long moments.

'How about your family? Your friends?'

Lily shifted her clipboard in her hand and put her pen down on the table next to her.

'You could tell me about Hogwarts.'

His head snapped to the window to avoid catching her eye as she leaned forward to look at him intently. 'Do you want to tell me about Hogwarts James?'

His voice was quiet when it came. 'What would be the point? You think it's a delusion, I don't, and there's no middle ground there.'

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'Sir, with all due respect I don't think it's as simple as that.' Lily opened her file, lifted out a page of extensive notes and passed them to her superior.

'He's lucid. Completely lucid. He knows exactly what's going on around him, there's no memory loss, no real confusion. He's insightful, self-aware, there have been absolutely no hallucinations whatsoever. _He's not psychotic._'

Dr Maxwell lowered the paperwork and fixed his eyes firmly on Lily's. 'He believes he's a wizard who went to a special school that trained him in magic.'

'One delusion.' Lily held up her index finger. '_One_. He has one single symptom of psychosis. That's not enough to class him psychotic. Delusions of grandeur aren't uncommon, and they can be broken down.'

Dr Maxwell drummed his fingers on his desk and eyed his favourite student. 'You can have a month. A month, and if there's no progress we declare him psychotic and he gets moved to the permanent ward until further notice.'

Lily rose from her seat. 'There'll be progress sir. I guarantee it.'

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Lily moved nervously along the corridor. This was the most idiotic thing she'd ever done, but she couldn't help feeling it was the _right _thing.

She opened up the door and slid into the treatment room, shutting the door carefully behind her and glancing up at the CCTV camera out of habit; she knew it was off, had arranged for it to be off - she didn't need witnesses for this - but she still looked.

James was already seated on the low sofa; they'd progressed over their sessions to a much comfier room than they'd started in. They didn't sit on cold hard chairs on opposite sides of a table anymore, they sat side by side on the sofa by the window for their increasingly chatty sessions that no longer seemed like appointments.

Lily joined him and waited for him to turn to her and see. When he finally turned to face her, his eyes immediately dropped to her hands, and the slim piece of wood that she held in them.

'That's…' He couldn't finish the sentence.

'It was in your possessions. The ones they took from you when you were committed.' She held it out to him.

His hand closed over hers, encased her hand together with his wand, as his eyes searched her face.

'You believe me…' He breathed the words, hardly daring to voice them, and she blushed a little. She did believe him, just a little, and she had to know if it was really true or if her professional abilities had become well and truly shot.

'I'm not saying that. I'm saying…I'm saying that you deserve a chance to convince me.'

His face lit up. 'Okay.'

He kept her hand under his, his fingers just making contact with the wood of his wand, just enough to direct the magic. Their combined hands moved under his guidance, his wand making the intricate motions that were ingrained in him.

But his eyes were on her face, watching her expression as she stared at their joined hands motioning with the wand.

When the flock of birds flew out of the end of his wand and began to circle the room she gasped and slackened her grip, but his hand stayed firm, gripping hers and his wand together.

'Magic.' He whispered in her ear.

'I don't believe it…'

'You do Lily.' She started at his use of her name. Not once in any of their sessions had he called her by her first name. 'You know you do.'

He drew in a deep breath. 'You know I shouldn't be here, you know it's real. Hogwarts, everything.'

'Oh my God.' Her eyes were still fixed on the birds flittering around their heads.

'I could show you.' He spoke the words quietly into her ear. 'If…if you were to help me get out of here, I could show you my world. Magic.'

He could see the indecision in her posture, but it lasted only a moment before she straightened up and turned to face him.

'I'm going to tell you exactly what to say James, so you need to listen okay? I'm going to teach you how to answer their questions so that they release you. And when they do…you're going to tell me everything , okay? You're going to show me all those places you talked about.'

He smiled at her, the first time she'd seen his face lift into a real honest-to-goodness smile.

'Okay. Deal of the century if you ask me.'

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	15. The No1 Jily Shipper

**Prompt: It's winter of seventh year James and Lily aren't together, them and their friends spend Christmas with the Evans' where they meet Lily's hyperactive cousin who is the number one Jily shipper.**

**Rating: T**

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I do take requests anon, but as you can tell by how long it's taken me to write this, I'm not exactly prompt with my responses! This took longer than usual because it took me a while to get my head around how to get them all to Lily's house, and then include a cousin. Anyway, this is what came out.

A letter hit James squarely in the mouth, and he looked up at the girl standing in front of him, arms folded.

'Umm, hi Lily?'

She pointed an accusing finger at him. 'This is all your fault James Potter. ALL. YOUR. FAULT.'

'Well that's certainly possible.' James conceded. 'Things are quite regularly my fault. But if you need an apology or a retraction or something, then I'm going to need to know exactly what I did.'

'See this letter?' Lily snatched it back up from where it had landed on his chest and waved it at him. 'This is a letter from my mother. A letter telling me that I am to invite you and your three best mates to come home with me for Christmas.'

The noise that came from James' throat was barely human. 'What?' He cast him mind around for a coherent response, and settled on '_Why?_'

She groaned and flopped down on the sofa next to him. 'Because I told her that your plans to have them all over at yours for Christmas had fallen through since your parents had to stay in hospital, and that you'd be staying here. And apparently she feels that it is unacceptable for you to remain at school for Christmas, so I'm to invite you.'

'Well, what did you tell her for anyway?'

Lily sighed and covered her eyes with one hand. 'Because I write about you a lot moron. We're friends, and I update my mum about my friends.'

James eyed her curiously. 'But you didn't have to tell me about her reply.' He pointed out. 'I would never have known and you could have just told her that you asked and I said no.'

'You do not know my mother.' Lily answered grimly. 'She'd probably have found a way of contacting the Headmaster and demanding he release you into her care. She's not one for taking no for an answer.'

'Ah, so that's where you get it from.' Lily thumped him in the arm. 'But what I'm getting from this is that this is far more _your_ fault than mine.** I **didn't tell you to write to your mum about me.'

'Yeah, but see, when you told me about it you gave me those damn puppy dog eyes and I felt sorry for you all. And it was on my mind, and I told my mother. So it's all your fault for making me feel guilty, and dammit would you just say that you'll come for Christmas so I don't have to feel guilty anymore?'

James grinned widely. 'Sure thing Evans. Padfoot should be good value in a muggle house.'

Lily closed her eyes. 'Lord have mercy I hadn't thought about that.'

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'You're here!' A small blur hit Lily in the knees, much to the shock of the Marauders who were hovering behind her.

'Hi Sarah.' Lily hugged the small girl currently clinging to her legs like a limpet. 'I brought some friends home. Guys, this is my cousin Sarah, she's staying while her parents are away.'

The small blonde peered around Lily at the four boys who smiled back. 'Which one is James?'

Lily looked down at her sharply, but James stepped forward and crouched down to meet her eye level. 'I'm James.'

Sarah looked him over with a much more cynical eye than any seven year old should be able to manage, then flung herself at him. He caught her and gave Lily a mystified look; she shrugged her shoulders and pulled a face that managed to convey 'I don't know, don't ask me' in one single expression.

'I'm glad _you're _James.' Sarah stepped back away from James. 'Lily will have much prettier babies with you than any of them.'

Lily made a sound a little like she was choking, Remus politely turned his laugh into a cough and Sirius and Peter had mild hysterics.

Sarah ignored the reaction from the group, preferring instead to tug James into the house. 'Come and see my Space Hopper!'

He cast one helpless back at Lily as she led him off.

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'Lily, come _on_!'

Being towed around your own house by a seven year old was a bizarre experience, but Lily did not have the energy to argue anymore; Sarah was a bundle of energy at the best of times, but the presence of new people had sent her into new heights of hyperactivity.

'Where are we going?'

'James needs you in the living room!'

The door to the lounge was flung open, and Lily and Sarah burst in on a startled James who was standing at the window sending off an owl.

'Sarah, what?' Lily looked down at the girl, mystified as to why her presence was necessary for James to send an owl, but she just impatiently gestured her to step over to join James at the window.

Against her better judgement she closed the small gap between her and James. He looked at her questioningly, and she smiled hesitantly.

'You needed me for something?'

'Noooo.' He shook his head. 'No, I'm fine. Just sending an owl to mum.'

Lily turned to look at Sarah, who smiled innocently. 'Ooops, I was wrong. Look, mistletoe!'

Lily glanced upwards, and saw that her mother had indeed hung mistletoe over the window. She flicked her eyes to James - whose expression was oddly neutral - before turning back to Sarah.

'Nice try kid.'

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'Couldn't sleep?' Lily asked softly, spotting the outline of James staring out of the living room window.

He turned and managed a smile for her. 'Padfoot snores.'

'Doesn't seem to bother you in the dorms.' She crossed the room to stand next to him, looking out through the crack in the curtains at the frost settling on the lawn.

'Fine, you caught me.' James sighed. 'I miss my parents. It's Christmas Eve and they aren't here.'

'Are they okay?'

He shrugged. 'Yeah. Dragon pox is hard to get over at their age is all.'

'They'll be fine before you know it.' Lily rubbed his arm soothingly. 'And I know it's not the same, but you have all of us here.'

'I know. I'm sorry I'm lousy to be around right now.'

'You're not. I'm glad you're here.'

He looked at her intently. 'Are you? Really?'

She smiled up at him. 'Of course I am. I'd have missed you.'

He turned to face her fully and smiled back, the traces of sadness gone from the corners of his eyes, and the movement drew Lily's eye to the plant hanging from the curtain rail.

'Mistletoe.' Her voice was soft.

He looked up. 'So it is. I hear there's a tradition.'

His hands cupped her face gently, and he bent down and kissed her, very softly. It was Lily who pressed up against him and wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss enthusiastically.

'Yes!' They jumped apart like they'd been stung at the triumphant hiss from the doorway, and as they turned they got a glimpse through the open doorway of a short blonde waving a fist in the air as she ran along the downstairs hall towards the stairs.

James started to laugh, and once she looked at him she started laughing too. He drew her into a hug and kissed the top of her forehead.

'Bloody interfering kid.' She mumbled into his shirt, and his shoulders shook as he laughed.

'Oh, I don't know. I rather like her.'

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	16. The Long Road

**Prompt: Jily hitchhiker AU.  
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**Rating: T**

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The song was an old one, but James whistled along cheerfully anyway, tapping his hands on the wheel in time with the rock and roll tones of Chuck Berry. It probably wasn't possible for _anyone_ to listen to Chuck Berry and not sing along, but it_ definitely_ wasn't possible if you'd been listening to your dad play Sweet Little Sixteen and You Never Can Tell at full volume for most of your life.

He rolled the driver's window further down and let more of the morning air flood the car - if nothing else it would help him stay awake – enjoying the scent of summer. Not for the first time he was glad he'd let his dad talk him into the Jaguar; it ate up the miles easily and didn't make his arse numb in the process. His mother had argued that an XJ-S wasn't exactly the sort of first car she'd had in mind, but the identical pleading looks from her husband and son had won her over, and James had been the proud owner of his baby for just over a year.

Sirius had taken one look and snorted his disapproval, muttered something about being a slavish consumer - a punk to the roots of his immaculately pointy hair - and had promptly buried his head back into his motorcycle magazine. But still, even Sirius would have to admit that if you were going to drag your arse all the way to Newcastle and back, you'd be much better off doing it in James' car than on his motorbike, two-wheeled death trap that it was.

Christ, but the A1 was a boring road to drive along though. He'd passed Durham a good twenty minutes ago, and he was a fair distance north of Leeds still, and if his memory of driving the other way up this road late last night served him correctly there was fuck all between the two. His attention began to wander and his eyes began scouting the landscape unthinkingly.

He didn't know what he expected to see exactly, but what he was_ not_ expecting was to see someone walking along the verge; he slowed as he came closer to them and realised to his shock that it was a redheaded girl, probably no older than himself, carrying an old backpack over her shoulder.

He checked his mirrors carefully, but apparently he was the only person besides her dumb enough to be on this stretch of road at 7am on a Sunday. He slowed as he approached her and leaned over to call through the open window on the passenger side.

'All right there miss?'

She glanced at him - and he couldn't help but notice that she was a pretty girl with rather extraordinary green eyes - but she quickly looked away again and kept on walking.

'Fine thanks.'

He glanced in his mirrors again, before pulling the car in and climbing out. 'Look, I don't mean to seem overbearing or anything, but should you really be walking along the side of the road by yourself? You never know what freaks could be around.'

'Besides you, you mean?' She stopped a few feet ahead of him and turned to face him, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

He felt the corners of his lips twitch. 'Well I won't deny it. You have to be a bit bloody weird to be willing to drive this God-forsaken bit of road at this hour on a Sunday. But you're_ walking _it at this hour on a Sunday, so that quite possibly makes you more of a freak than me.'

'Maybe.' The girl turned her back on him and started walking again before she shouted back over her shoulder. 'But that should mean that I won't have any problems dealing with any other freaks shouldn't it?'

He stared after her for only a moment before he jogged to catch up, his hands slipping into his pockets as he fell into step alongside her.

'Ever heard of the Yorkshire Ripper? The Moors Murderers?' He asked conversationally. 'I ask, because you seem like a smart girl, and I'm wondering exactly why a smart girl would be risking her safety like this.'

'I've heard of them.' She answered shortly. 'But I need to get home, and I've no money for a train or bus ticket, and not all of us can afford fancy cars, so I'm using what God gave me and walking.'

James sighed. 'Can I give you a lift?'

'You've just finished lecturing me about weirdos who murder people and the dangers of walking by myself, and now you're trying to lure me into your car? Someone's inconsistent.'

'Yes, but I'm not a murdering psycho.' James countered.

'And I know that how, exactly?'

'You could take my word for it.'

'Do I look fucking stupid?'

'No, not at all. Did I or did I not say that you seemed like a smart person? I just think that you ought to weigh your options here. Keep walking, it'll take you Christ knows how long and there's no knowing who you'll meet, or get in my car, it'll be much quicker and you'll only have to put up with me.'

'The murderers almost seem the better option.' She muttered, before she stopped and dropped her bag with a sigh. 'Okay. I'm exhausted anyway.'

James picked her bag up, ignoring her protests, and led her back in the direction of his car. For someone who was exhausted she'd been walking pretty briskly; they'd covered a fair distance in the few minutes since he got out of his car.

'What are you doing out here anyway?' He couldn't keep the curiosity in any longer.

She sighed. 'I was visiting a friend, at the University up in Newcastle. We had a ...falling out, and I didn't want to stay around him anymore.'

He had to ask. 'Boyfriend?'

'No.' She shook her head, and he noted that there was a flush on her cheeks that might be anger, embarrassment or a mixture of the two. 'No. Childhood friend who apparently thinks that now he's made friends with some privileged little shits that makes him better than everyone else.'

'Ah.' James nodded. 'Hangers on. They're usually worse than the bastards who are actually rich. I'm an expert at identifying and avoiding by now.'

She looked over at him. 'But you _are_ a privileged little shit, if that car is anything to go by.'

'Being a privileged little shit – which I don't deny by the way – doesn't make me _better _than anyone, and it doesn't give me the right to act like a right bastard to people. Some people just don't seem to get that.'

They'd arrived back at the car, and James opened the passenger door and waited patiently for her to get in. She looked at him nervously for a moment, and then blurted out: 'I'm Lily, by the way. Lily Evans.' At his surprised look, she simply shrugged. 'I don't feel right getting in a car with you without us at least knowing each other's names.'

He stretched out a hand, and after a moment's hesitation she let it engulf her own. 'James Potter.'

She slid into the seat and he let the door shut behind her before he walked around to the driver's side.

'I forgot to ask where you're going.' He said conversationally as he buckled his seat belt. She mumbled something, and he was forced to ask her to repeat herself.

'Surrey.'

He paused in the action of starting the car. 'Surrey? You were walking to _Surrey_?'

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 'Well, probably not. I thought if I could get to Leeds and find a phone then maybe I could get someone to come and fetch me or something…'

'So just from Newcastle to Leeds then?' James interrupted in disbelief. He shook his head firmly. 'You're something else, you know that?'

He started the engine and pulled off smoothly, the car accelerating effortlessly as he went up through the box until they were cruising south along the A road.

Lily cleared her throat. 'You can just drop me off near Leeds, if that's okay, and I'll work something out from there.'

James glanced over at her, and he was honest enough with himself to admit that he felt a burst of attraction, not only for her looks, but also for her quick-witted responses and snark. 'Or I could take you home.'

Lily hesitated. 'Where are you even going?'

'Chippenham. Wiltshire.' James answered easily. 'And actually I have to get there sharpish because I need to get some signed contracts back to my dad. But if you can bear with me while I do that, I can take you home afterwards.'

Lily looked dumbfounded. 'Surrey is on the other side of England from Wiltshire.'

'Not quite.' James reached over to turn the radio on low. 'It's maybe halfway across England from Chippenham, depending on which part you want to go to. It's not even a hundred miles.'

'It's still a bloody long way out of your way for a stranger!'

James grinned, his eyes leaving the road briefly to look over at her.

'It's about five hours drive from here to Chippenham. We won't be strangers by then.'

Lily stared at him for a moment. 'All right.' She looked surprised at the words coming out of her own mouth, but she soldiered on. 'If we're not screaming our heads off at each other by the time we get to Chippenham I'll accept a lift home. But I reserve the right to demand you stop and let me out at any time until then.'

He leaned an elbow on the window frame as he steered effortlessly with one hand. 'Believe me, you won't want to.'

'Has anyone ever told you that you are a cocky little shit?'

'Evans, you're the first.'

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	17. Just A Match

**A/N: James and Lily meet at the quidditch World Cup through their mutual friend Sirius Black **

**Rating: K**

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'Do you think you could possibly move slightly faster than a flobberworm Prongs?' Sirius stopped climbing the stairs and stared in exasperation at his best mate, who was drinking in all the chaos of the Quidditch stands with the air of a true aficionado, and consequently was moving at a snail's pace.

James grinned up at him. 'You're such a grouch Padfoot. I'm just enjoying the build-up. What's your hurry?'

'My _hurry_ is that I told someone we'd meet them here, and you're making me late.'

'Since when did you worry about being late to meet anybody?' James scoffed incredulously.

'I worry about being late when the person I'm meeting is not only temperamental and liable to hex, but is also extremely bloody handy with a wand.'

That caught James' attention. 'You mean that I'm about to_ finally_ meet Lily?' Sirius had waxed lyrical about Lily's hexing ability ever since he'd met her in Diagon Alley; he'd arrived outside Flourish and Botts just in time to see her plaster Augustus Avery's face with extremely painful-looking boils, in retaliation for a comment he'd made about muggleborns.

He'd promptly joined her in verbally abusing a group of wannabe Death Eaters until two off-duty aurors had broken the whole thing up. Since then Sirius had been spending time with Lily Evans, but none of the other Marauders had met her.

'Yes, you bloody are. So hurry your arse up, or she'll own both of ours, I'm telling you.'

James sped up, jogging up the stairs after Sirius and wondering how someone as lazy as his best mate could be fit enough to climb stairs at that kind of pace anyway. Fear of Lily Evans' wrath was a powerful motivator apparently.

Sirius arrived at their seats a moment before him, and by the time James climbed the last step up he was already hugging someone. James heard a low feminine laugh, and then Sirius swung his companion around and shoved her in James' direction.

'Lily Evans, James Potter.'

Catching her as she stumbled his way was instinct, and she laughed and muttered curses in Sirius' direction as she steadied herself, bracing her hands on his forearms.

'Thanks.' She looked up at him – he saw an image of dark red hair framing green eyes in pale skin - and his brain froze. His tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth and his hands locked in place on her hips.

It was the sound of Sirius' muffled sniggering that brought him back to his senses. 'You're welcome.' He released his grip on her, and then unthinkingly reached up to straighten her scarf, dislodged in her stumble. 'Sorry.' He hastily dropped his hands, realising the strange sense of intimacy the gesture suggested, but she just smiled up at him a little shyly.

'No, that's okay. Thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

Sirius interrupted the developing staring match with his usual level of tact.

'Oi, goggle-eyes! Are we watching Quidditch or what?'

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	18. Difference Is Dangerous

**A/N: I was just wondering if you could write a jily divergent AU?**

**Rating: T**

**This one also gets an extra disclaimer to say that not only do I not own Harry Potter series, I don't own the Divergent series either.**

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So what, _exactly_, defined Lily Evans? That's what this moment was about after all.

Picking the characteristic she would live the rest of her live by.

She was most certainly_ not _honest. Not honest enough for Candor anyway, though she knew she was capable of some incredibly barbed home truths.

She wouldn't exactly define herself by her friendliness and gentle nature either; though she enjoyed the company of others, she could be abrasive and even spiteful if the situation called for it. Amity wouldn't suit her.

She was smart, she knew she was, but there was something about Erudite that she just didn't like, not least the faction leader, Tom Riddle. He unnerved her.

If she was selfless enough to think of her parent's feelings - especially after Petunia had left them - then she would choose to stay with them; but if she was selfless enough for that, then she wouldn't feel so out of place in Abnegation anyway.

No, there was only ever one place that Lily Evans was going. Hoping that her parents would forgive her, she held her hand over the coals of Dauntless.

Lily Evans was _brave_.

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The leap onto the train had been easy; she'd been careful though, had made sure she looked nervous, had lagged behind a bit, even wobbled on landing, a deception she was particularly proud of. But the truth was it had been all too easy to just _leap,_ and then exert a little power to _push_ herself through the air and land safely; she had, after all being doing similar things from such a young age when no-one was looking. No-one had noticed this time either.

This, though. This was a test, and she wasn't quite sure what it was a test _of_.

She peered into the hole and worried at her lip as she considered. If it was a simple test of bravery and there was something down there to catch them, fine. If there wasn't, and she was going to splat straight into the ground she was perfectly capable of preventing that; the only problem was she would have no way of explaining _how_ she prevented it.

Deciding she had no option but to jump and deal with any potential consequences later, she threw herself off the ledge and into the dark. As she fell she became aware of pinpricks of light below her, lights that got larger and brighter as she fell towards them. She was just about to reach for her magic to begin to slow her descent when she caught the faint outline of a net. Simple test of bravery it was then. She let her grip on her power go, closed her eyes and went limp as she waited for the impact.

She hit the elasticated strings, bounced once, twice, and then warm hands caught her and set her feet down on the ground.

She opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a muscled chest dressed in tight black; she looked up hastily, the part of her brain that was still abnegation admonishing her for having any _feelings _about tight black t-shirts _whatsoever_.

A pair of hazel eyes looked back at her, a steady gaze that seemed to burn right through her, exposing every secret.

'Someone push you?'

The first words out of his mouth, and all she could think about what how much _deeper_ his voice was than she expected. Realising belatedly that he'd asked her a question, she found herself staring at him blankly.

'No?'

He looked…grudgingly impressed, she decided.

'What's your name?'

She hesitated, and he grinned faintly. 'As good a time as any to choose your own, if you'd like to.'

'Lily.' She answered firmly. Some parts of your identity you kept.

She heard him announce her name, and then his hand landed on the small of her back and pushed her gently towards one of the groups gathered around the net.

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The physical training had been…awful. Lily knew she could augment her actual strength with her magic if she needed to, but she was terrified of being caught out. Minerva's warning echoed through her head. _Don't let them know, don't slip…one slip is one too many_.

So she'd taken her beatings, she'd fought back on days when the anger made her strong without her magic. She'd watched, sick to her stomach, as the initiates turned on each other, on her. She'd excelled at the tactical games such as capture the flag.

She knew James watched her through all of it.

She thought that he had a better grip on what was happening in the compound than anybody else; he always knew what was going on. And he knew _something _was off about her.

His eyes had narrowed at her reasoning abilities in capture the flag, and he'd made an offhand comment about whether she'd considered erudite.

He watched her interaction with her friends, and she felt like he was assessing her.

The day he'd thrown knives at her, it had taken everything in her not to conjure a shield of some kind. The way he'd thrown them, it was almost as if he was testing her. Of course, everyone was testing her at the moment; it was just that he seemed to be interested in something entirely different than everyone else.

She'd been relieved to make the cut. A little horrified about what might be coming, but relieved that she wasn't now factionless.

So on the day that they gathered for the next phase of initiation, she sat quietly in the corner and tried her hardest to keep as calm as possible; an accidental burst of magic because she wasn't in control was the worst possible thing that could happen now.

She watched people come and go, saw confident faces become pale and ashen by the time they came back. Then it was her turn.

James' presence soothed her, though she doubted he knew it and she certainly couldn't fathom _why_; he seemed to be more suspicious of her than anyone else. And he evaded any and all questions that she asked him. But he injected the serum gently, helped her lay back with surprising tenderness and whispered something before she drifted off. The fact that his eyes were the last thing she was properly aware of helped somehow.

She came to screaming and jerking, her arms still thrashing at the birds that were no longer there, had never been there, and James held her arms tightly to her side as he whispered urgently to her, words that she couldn't quite make out but that nonetheless calmed her frayed nerves somehow.

He'd walked her back to her room, and he'd told her that her times were the fastest by miles. She knew he had his suspicions, but today she felt for the first time as if he would keep them to himself. For the first time since she'd arrived, it felt like someone was on her side.

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'Another day, another fear simulation.' James sounded almost cheerful as he prepared her for what she'd come to think of as the ritualistic daily torment.

Lily rolled her eyes as she shuffled herself into position on the chair. 'It's a good thing it's what I live for then.' They did this now, the little joke, weak though it was. James was different with her than he was with the others; that had become obvious to more than her when he'd approached her the other day by the chasm, half-drunk and laughing.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she woke up tied to a stake, men waving flaming torches at the kindling piled around her feet. She screamed, she pled, she struggled with her bonds. When the flames licked her boots, she cast aguamenti and doused them.

And woke up to James' furious eyes; she'd never imagined that hazel could be such a cold colour before.

'You idiot.' He pulled her from the chair and glowered, even as he ran the fingers of his free hand over the keys of the computer. 'I have to delete that entire thing, because you decided to show off the fact that you're magical.'

'What?' She stuttered the word as she tried to feign ignorance; unfortunately her usual talent for lying abandoned her at this point, possibly because she couldn't think of anything beyond the hard edge in his eyes.

'You. Are magical.' He repeated as he gave her a hard stare. 'And you can never, never, let anyone else find out, you understand?'

He waited for her nod. 'Get back to your dorm. You felt sick and went for a lie down. If I don't produce your results for today it will pull your ranking down a little, and that can only be a good thing at this point.' He paused for a moment, his tongue coming out to wet his lips. 'Get a handle on your magic Lily.'

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Lily didn't go back to her dorm. Minerva could usually be found in the library, and today was no exception. Lily waited until she was sitting down at a computer, and then she dropped onto the chair of the workstation alongside her.

'I need to ask you something.'

Minerva didn't even spare her a glance. 'Simulations going well?'

'Depends on what you mean by well.' Lily's tone was grim, and Minerva winced slightly.

'I was afraid of that. I told you this wasn't the place for you.'

'There_ is_ no place for me.' Lily hissed. 'I'm doing the best I can.'

The older woman sighed. 'How can I help?'

'How do I hide it?'

'The only way is to control it.' She smiled ever so slightly at Lily's disbelieving look. 'It's possible you know. You think you're the only witch here?'

Lily's buried her face in her hand to hide her shock at the tacit admission. 'How do you do it?'

'The thing is, you have to do exactly what they are telling you to do. _Control_ the fear. Don't let yourself get to the point where the magic bursts out of you. It's not that different from what the other initiates have to do; the only real difference is that you have the advantage because they don't know it's a simulation, and you do.'

Lily sighed as she leant back in the chair. 'It's only an advantage if you know how to use it.'

Minerva glanced over at her. 'Here's a tip then; find someone to _show_ you how to use it.'

'What, shall I take out an ad?'

'No.' Minerva turned her attention fully to her screen. 'I would settle for asking someone who recognises what you are but doesn't expose you. Someone who knows exactly what you can do and helps you hide it. Someone who might have more in common with you than you imagine.'

Somewhere in the middle of Minerva's statement Lily's brain froze. _James_. James had recognised that she was magical, and she'd been so panicked that it hadn't occurred to her to wonder_ how_ he knew that, how he recognised the signs. James had hidden today's simulation results. He'd been pushing her boundaries, testing her all this time, forcing her to keep a grip under pressure.

James could help her.

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	19. Very Merry Men

**A/N: Prompt - Jily, Robin Hood-style, James and Marauders as outlaws and Lily as Maid Marion. **

**Rating: K**

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><p>No-one knew their way around Hogwarts like James Potter and his men. Of course, they'd lived there for a number of years before the war and the long absence of Dumbledore had turned the world on its head, so they'd had ample time for exploring.<p>

But even with their superior knowledge of the castle, they were having trouble making any progress through it at all with so many of Riddle's guards on the prowl.

James flicked the tapestry to one side and poked his head out of the small cubby in the stone wall that they were concealed in. 'They've gone. Come on.'

'Please tell me this is worth it Prongs.' Sirius followed him out immediately, eyes darting around, ever wary.

'It's worth it.' James answered shortly, his attention focused almost entirely on the corridor in front of him, senses straining to try and get early warning of any approaching enemies.

Remus and Peter slid out behind them and fell into their usual loose formation as rear-guard.

'If we can find that damn parchment, and Frank is right about the information on it, then it'll be worth it.' Remus' voice was low and surprisingly unruffled.

'I find it hard to credit that Riddle would put that sort of information in writing.' Peter's voice was definitely nervous; he'd always hated this sort of thing, all risk and no discernible reward.

'He's arrogant.' James responded shortly. 'He thinks he's untouchable now, and it might have made him careless. It's a risk we have to take anyway. Now shut up, we're getting close.'

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><p>The sound of running feet had Lily pulling open the door of her chamber.<p>

Guards thundered past, hurtling down the corridor in a disorganised mob, their armour clanking as they moved as quickly as possible while encased in steel plates and chain mail. This level of movement from guards who were more used to hanging around the kitchens to see if there was any spare food on offer could only mean one thing: James and his band of Merry Morons were in the castle, and up to no good.

She sincerely hoped that they had planned this one a little more thoroughly than their last escapade, because she'd only just had time to shove them into her wardrobe before the guards had burst in looking for them. She'd produced enough of an indignant diatribe to send the guards packing, but her heart had been pounding so hard the whole time that she was surprised they hadn't heard it, and she didn't think she'd be able to do it again.

She pulled open the bottom drawer of her dresser, pulled up the false bottom and removed a dagger which she tucked into the top of her boot, carefully concealed by her skirt. She patted her intricate hair design, making sure that the specially selected assortment of pins that held it in place were easily removable should she need them. Then she pulled open her door and slipped out, glancing both ways before she pulled a tapestry on the opposite wall to one side and slipped into the passageway behind it.

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><p>James pressed himself up against the wall until the guards had gone past. He was all but certain that Sirius had made it out with the parchment, and that was the important thing. He'd get it back to camp, and then he'd make damn sure that it got to Moody; in the proper hands, the information on it should be enough to bring Riddle down.<p>

Remus and Peter had been the first out, and they would have rounded up everyone else and headed back for the forest an age ago.

So it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things if he didn't get out now, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do his damnedest to _get _out. He made his way along the familiar corridor, his soft boots making almost no sound as he moved.

The clatter of armoured feet came from one direction, and he turned in one easy pivot and went the other way. He rounded two more corners, and walked directly into a lone guard. He drew his sword and lunged, hoping to despatch the guard before he could summon help, but the man was quicker than he'd hoped and the sound of sword meeting sword rang out in the stone passageway.

But only once, because the man's neck suddenly sprouted a tiny jewelled throwing dagger, and he collapsed in a brief spray of arterial blood. James twisted around to see a red-headed woman standing behind him, her foot tapping impatiently and her eyebrow raised challengingly. Her hair was neatly pinned up on one side but falling all over the place on the other, and James strongly suspected that the dagger currently embedded in the guard's neck had been previously responsible for pinning her hairstyle.

James broke into an easy smile. 'My lady.'

'Don't you "my lady" me, Potter!' Lily snapped at him. 'Once again I find myself uninformed about your plans, yet in the situation of bailing you out of them.'

'And you do it _beautifully_.' He bowed in the most grandiose style he could manage, and he didn't miss the muscle twitching in her cheek that meant she was trying not to laugh at him.

The sound of approaching footsteps had her reaching for him and dragging him by the collar into a nearby abandoned room. They just made it in and got the door closed before the footsteps started down this particular corridor, and Lily found herself with her back pressed against the wall, with James' body covering hers almost entirely, shielding her from immediately being seen by anyone opening the door.

'What makes you think that this room is safe to hide in?' James' voice wasn't even a whisper, but his mouth was so close to her ear that it didn't have to be.

'Because they'll think it should be locked.' Lily answered, her voice just as breathy. 'Just like it was when I got here.'

'You picked the lock open?'

'Do you think I wear all these stupid hair ornaments for the sparkle?'

'You are the most wonderful lady that ever existed.'

'At least you know it.'

James picked up her right hand and kissed the empty ring finger. 'I hate not seeing your engagement ring on your hand.'

Lily stopped her intense concentration on the door and looked up at him. 'Then you best hurry up and topple Riddle hadn't you, so that I can get out of here and put it back on again. Walking around with the Potter family ring on my engagement finger might blow my cover ever so slightly.'

James' lips brushed her softly and too briefly. 'I'll try and speed that up for you, my love.'

'Wonderful.'

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><p><strong>AN: I just wanted to say that I know that in many countries the engagement ring is customarily worn on the left hand. However, that does vary by country, and by time period. It used to be traditional in the UK (and I actually prefer this to the more modern way) to wear the engagement ring on the right hand, to denote that the wedding had not taken place yet. Once you were married you added the wedding ring to your left hand and the engagement ring could then be worn on either hand. This way around is just my personal preference, and I believe probably a little more time period appropriate.**


	20. What Might Have Been

**A/N: Prompt - James and Lily meeting Ginny (as Harry's girlfriend)**

**Rating: T**

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'I don't think I have ever seen him his nervous, not even right before his first Quidditch match.'

James grinned at the sight of his son pacing up and down the garden path, occasionally running a hand through his unruly hair. Harry always looked like him, always, but when he was stressed or worried the resemblance became even more pronounced through the nervous actions that they shared. He knew that Lily found it somewhat irritating that his twitchy habits had somehow been passed on to their son, but he couldn't help but be proud of the echoes of himself that he could see in his boy, all of them. His son was the best of him and Lily combined, which made him the single greatest thing in human history to his father.

'It's Ron's sister isn't it?' Lily answered from behind him. She was sitting comfortably on the sofa, highlighting sections of the paperwork that she was reading, a piece of draft legislation that she was checking for errors on Kingsley's behalf. Being a legal advisor to the Minister would have killed James, but Lily thrived on it. 'The mysterious girlfriend that he hasn't wanted to talk about. Ginny, I believe.'

'Yeah.' James grinned at her over his shoulder. 'Ginny Weasley. A redhead. He's_ so_ much like me.'

'Now that's an insult to my son.' Lily's eyes didn't lift from the page, but her lips did curve upwards at James' gasp of mock hurt. 'I bet that was an interesting conversation anyway. I'm sure Ron was thrilled.'

James frowned as he resumed his study of their son's nervous antics. 'I don't really understand why. You'd think Ron would rather his sister date someone he knows and trusts right?'

'Spoken like a man who has no sisters or daughters.' Lily looked up with a smile. 'I think if it was up to Ron, Harry would have joined him in driving all men away from Ginny forever.'

James looked slightly baffled at that, and Lily gave up on her document and came to join him at the window. 'Look at him, all nerves.' She smiled fondly. 'He reminds me of you when we went on our first date.'

James scoffed. 'Shut up, I've never looked that terrified in my life! Not even facing down Voldemort. Honestly, he looks like he's due for execution.'

Lily's arms wrapped around her husband's waist and she rested her cheek against his back. 'It's honestly very cute that you believe that.'

'I could always divorce you, you know.'

'Please.' Lily snorted. 'You couldn't possibly do better and you know it.'

'True enough.' He agreed, closing his hands over hers and squeezing gently. 'Oh, this must be her! Bright red hair and too many freckles to count.'

Lily leaned out from behind his back, keeping her arms locked tight around him. 'Well, she doesn't look like Ron, but she's definitely a Weasley.'

A petite girl was just approaching their garden gate, her vivid red hair pulled back and tied up in a messy braid and her muggle clothes sitting slightly uncomfortably on her. Ginny was a pure blood, Lily suddenly realised, so she was undoubtedly doubly nervous; not only was she meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time, she was doing so in a half-blood household which would be full of unfamiliar things. Her heart melted a little at the thought that this fifteen year old girl had deliberately put on clothes that she was not wholly comfortable in, probably purely in an attempt to fit into their house and neighbourhood.

'Good grief.' Harry had opened the gate and pulled Ginny into their garden, where he was now greeting her with enthusiasm. James cocked his head to one side. 'Do you think he's actually managed to reach her tonsils?'

Lily socked him in the arm. 'Leave the poor boy alone. _She's_ not complaining.'

'Do you think I should go out and say hello?' James asked, and Lily scoffed at him.

'Yeah, sure, go and humiliate your son, he'll really thank you for it. I think what we should do, is go to the kitchen, so that when they come in they'll be reassured that we absolutely did not see their little snogging session in the front garden.'

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When Harry came into the kitchen, pulling Ginny by the hand, his parents were both conspicuously occupied with something; James was making tea and Lily was sorting her paperwork into folders. They both looked up and smiled.

'Mum, dad…this is Ginny.' He turned to face her as he introduced her, trying to convey that she had nothing to worry about with his eyes.

'Hi Ginny.' His mother spoke first, her voice slightly softer and lower than normal. 'Lovely to meet you.'

'Hello Mrs Potter. It's nice to meet you too.' Ginny nervously tucked a piece of hair that had sprung free from her braid back behind her ear, and Harry squeezed her hand gently in support.

'Would you like some tea?' His father offered, his face set in its usual easy grin. 'I just made it.'

She looked at Harry for guidance, and he gave her a barely perceptible shrug, letting her know that he was going to let her decide how she wanted to handle this visit. She squared her shoulder and summoned up a smile for his dad. 'That sounds really nice actually, thank you.'

'Harry tells us you play Quidditch.' Lily began to move her paperwork off the table to make room for them to sit down.

'Actually, he said you were fantastic.' James added as he ferried tea and scones to the table. 'Although he didn't specify if he was referring _only_ to Quidditch.'

He winked at her, and for some reason Ginny felt the tension coiled in her belly suddenly dissipate. 'Well, I can assure you that he _wasn't _referring only to Quidditch.'

Harry groaned, but his father roared with laughter and clapped him on the shoulder. 'Oh, I like her boy, I really do.'

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	21. One Hell Of A Pair

**A/N: Prompt - Lily and James are both chronically ill and befriend each other**

**Rating: K**

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'No, like this.' James lifted his wand and waved it easily, multi-coloured bubbles bursting from the tip in great quantity.

The four year old on his lap giggled and tried to catch them, while the twelve year old boy sitting next to him – the boy that the bed actually belonged to - frowned and concentrated on his own wand. One quick wave later, and a squirt of soapy water spurted out of it and soaked the bed opposite. James' bed.

'Ooops.' The poor boy looked quite distraught, but James collapsed back onto the mattress as he roared with laughter.

'Don't worry about it kid.' He managed to get the words out finally, sitting up and removing the small child from his lap with a wink that made the little girl giggle furiously. 'It's all practice.'

Somewhere between his laughter and his attempts to soothe the upset boy, his eye was briefly drawn to the drawn curtain around the next bed, whose occupant he had yet to see. Whoever it was had been stretchered in last night, and he'd been unable to get so much as a glimpse.

He knew everyone on the ward – being here for six months solid would do that – and it was always a little uplifting when someone new arrived. _Anything _that changed the status quo was uplifting. But he was hoping for someone close to his age; he loved the kids, but he could do with someone to talk to who would understand him a little better. He missed Sirius, despite the fact that he visited as often as he could. He missed Remus and Peter too, but he was used to being separated from them for longer periods.

He crossed over to his bed and waved his wand over it a few times, the drying charms making quick work of the splashes left by David's enthusiastic, if misdirected, spellcasting. The sound of someone shifting around in the bed behind the curtain made him glance over curiously, wondering if anyone would be emerging soon. Then there was an outburst of coughing, long wracking coughs that made him grimace in sympathy. He picked up his empty glass and refilled it with a quick aguamenti spell, before crossing the ward and standing outside the closed curtain.

After a moment's hesitation, he spoke quietly but firmly. 'Er, knock knock?'

The coughing slowed down, and then a raspy voice spoke. 'Hello?'

Taking that as an invitation, James opened the curtain just a fraction and held the glass in eyeline. 'Thought you might want some water?'

'Thanks.' The voice was closer now, and then a small figure, swamped by a navy blue dressing gown that looked significantly too big, emerged through the little gap he'd made in the curtain and took the glass gratefully.

Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been a petite girl with red hair and improbably green eyes. Even when her skin was paler than it should be, and her frame looked as if it has no meat left on it at all, she was very pretty, and more or less his age he thought.

She drained the glass and offered it back to him. 'Thanks. It helped.'

Her voice sounded better, though there was still a rustiness to it. 'You're welcome. After a while in here you end up knowing what to do to make most things feel better.'

She smiled weakly but was swaying a little on the spot, and James recognised a person who was exhausted when he saw one. 'You should probably lie down, you must be wiped out. I'll let you sleep.'

'No, wait.' She caught his hand as he went to step away, then blushed slightly as he turned to look at her curiously. 'I just…do you think you could sit and talk to me for a bit? I don't get to see many people these days. Infectious, you know?'

'I definitely do. Luckily for us, they just throw all of us infectious kids in here together so we don't have to wallow in our misery alone.'

The girl had turned around and pulled the curtain aside before collapsing back on her bed, not bothering to remove her dressing gown or get under the covers, and James followed her and sat down in the chair alongside it.

'I'm James.' He offered, and she looked slightly embarrassed.

'Lily.'

'So what are you in for Lily?'

'Chronic Scrofungulus.' She answered, a grumpy look passing across her face. 'People usually either die from it or recover completely, but a very small number react oddly to the infection; they just can't fully fight it off, and have repeated relapses. That's me.'

'Nice.' James nodded appreciatively . 'We enjoy having a variety of illnesses on the Magical Bugs Long Term Young Patients Ward.'

'Snappy.' Lily scoffed at the names. 'Is that where we are? I wasn't in much condition to notice.'

'Yep. And you're the first new patient for some time.'

Lily sighed. 'I hate hospitals.'

'Me too.'

She looked over at him as if she was suddenly realising something. 'What are you here for? You look…healthy, if that's the right word.'

'Looks can be deceiving.' He winked at her and lifted his left hand, wiggling his fingers. His four fingers.

Lily's eyebrows drew together in surprise, and James laughed, but it was a hollow one. He couldn't summon a real laugh when he was looking at his missing digit. 'Vanishing sickness. Lost a finger to it years ago, and can't quite get it out of my system. Constant treatment keeps it at bay, but there isn't a cure. Every now and again a body part starts to look a bit _indistinct_, and I land up in here with them panicking that this time they won't be able to stop it disappearing.'

'Wow.' Her voice was soft, and when he looked up her head was cocked to one side as she stared at him with sympathy. Sympathy, not pity, and he felt a huge swell of gratitude to her for that; he'd gotten used to people looking at him like he was a kicked puppy when they found out about it.

'Yeah, I know.'

She let her body flop back onto her pillows. 'Well, aren't we one hell of a pair?'

He felt the corners of his lips curve upwards in the most genuine smile he'd managed in weeks. Life on the ward seemed a little brighter suddenly.

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	22. Witches and Wizards and Muggles, Oh My

**A/N: Prompt - can you write a cute jily drabble where they're dating and they both think the other one is a muggle and they find out they're not?**

**Rating: T**

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'You're mental mate.'

Sirius lay on James' bed, his eyes on the snitch that hovered above him as he clawed uselessly at it, always missing it by inches. James' hand shot out and snatched it, and he threw it back into the box on his chest of drawers.

'What makes you think that Padfoot?' He stood in front of his mirror and attempted to smooth his hair down.

'You're dating a _muggle_. What the hell do you even talk about? I mean, what do you tell her you _do_? Where does she think you went to school? You met her at _King's Cross,_ for Merlin's sake. How prosaic.'

James scowled at him in the mirror. 'I told her that I went to boarding school in Scotland – you might be surprised to know that Hogwarts isn't the_ only _one in the country – and that I work for my parents firm. They're not even lies, they just…aren't the whole truth.'

Sirius scoffed as he pushed himself off of James' bed. 'Well, sooner or later she's going to want details. Best get your story straight Prongs.'

He sauntered out, leaving James looking worriedly at his own reflection. He reflexively checked his watch and cursed, loudly and inventively, before apparating immediately.

He landed in an alleyway just down the road from the pub he was supposed to be meeting Lily in; he'd done a quick scout of it a few days ago, since he wasn't familiar with the area, and this had proved to be the only decent point for apparition around. That was definitely its only redeeming feature though. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of rotting garbage emanating from somewhere, and gave his shirt a quick brush over with one hand.

He was just at the mouth of the alley, about to step out as nonchalantly as he could manage – he could only think of so many reasons for someone to be down this alley, and none of them were something he'd want to give the impression of doing – when a muted "pop" came from behind him.

Recognising the familiar sound of apparition, he drew his wand and turned quickly; in times like this, it was wise to be cautious. Blood traitors drew enemies from many quarters.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light and recognise the figure, and he almost dropped his wand in shock.

'Lily?'

She turned to face him – _whirled_ really, the movement was that fast – and James found himself staring at the wrong end of a wand. Lily, it seemed, had not noticed that she was on the receiving end of _his_, because she instantly began babbling a nonsensical and badly thought out excuse for being in the alleyway.

'James! I just er, just stepped into the alley to, er…adjust my… stockings? You know how they get, they slip, and then they look wrinkly…'

'You're a terrible liar.' He interrupted. 'You would have had to walk _past _me to get into the alleyway, since it's a dead end. _And_ you're pointing your wand at me. And I_ heard_ you apparate.'

Lily opened her mouth to attempt further explanation, then stopped as James' words sank in properly. 'Wand. Apparition.' Her dazed expression slid off her face to be replaced by a glare, which was accompanied by an accusatory pointed finger drilling into his chest. 'You, you, you…wizard!'

'Witch.' He responded mildly, looking at her with renewed interest. 'You know, in some ways that makes this easier. Before I met you, I never appreciated how bloody annoying the Statute of Secrecy was.'

Lily's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, before she managed to get out another sentence. 'You're a _wizard_.'

He looked amused. 'You said that already.'

'I can't _believe_ this.' Lily sank one hand into her hair and tugged on the roots. 'I've been driving myself _mad_ trying to evade questions, and think of plausible answers, and…it was all bloody useless!'

She looked up at James, whose hands had found their way into his pockets and who was standing there grinning at her; the exact same grin that had been on his face when he'd bumped into her at King's Cross. He shrugged. 'Still want to get that drink?'

She let out a little huff of air, and nodded. 'I think I bloody _need_ it, to be honest.'

He held out his hand, a little tentatively, but she took it easily and their palms met firmly. They left the alleyway, ignoring any stares – and James found that he had no objection to people wondering what he was doing in a secluded alleyway with _Lily_ – and made their way towards Lily's pub of choice.

'So, that boarding school in Scotland?' Lily asked quietly. 'Hogwarts?'

'That's right.' He glanced down at her. 'You didn't go there though. I'd have remembered _that_.'

The question was implied, and Lily understood that he was allowing her the opportunity of _not _telling him.

'Dad's job took him to France for a bit when I was younger. I was ten when we moved there, so when someone came to tell me I was a witch, it seemed much more sensible to go to Beauxbatons. We moved back when I was thirteen, but I had friends, I was settled into my classes. I didn't want to change schools. And, if we're being totally honest, the…tensions aren't there in France. Not like here at the moment.'

James nodded. 'So you're muggleborn?'

She bit her lip anxiously. 'Is that a problem? Are you…?'

'It's not a problem to me.' James answered firmly. 'Or to anyone I'm friends with. I'm a pureblood, if you're interested. But to be honest I don't see how it's relevant.'

'Well, it isn't to me.' Lily replied easily. 'I just thought you might want to take it into consideration; I know how it's viewed, muggleborns and purebloods. I thought you might want to avoid antagonising the masked nutters.'

James gave her a distinctly crooked grin, a sharp edge to it. 'Oh, do let me fill you in on my school days Evans.'

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes. 'I've got some time, as it happens.

**(J&L) **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)****


	23. Pubs and Football

**A/N:**

**Prompt: I was hoping you could do a Jily Football AU (Because FIFA's craze has got to me). One where both of them are HUGE fans of football and where they meet in a pub; they first 'fangirl' about it and then they downright flirt with each other.**

**Rating: T**

**(J&L)** **(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**

'Yes…yes…no…what are you…balls!'

James slammed his pint down onto the bar with far more force than strictly necessary, earning a dirty look from the barman. He lifted an apologetic hand, then resumed scowling at the TV where West Brom had once again failed to score.

Still, it was one all. A draw was decent, especially against a team like Liverpool. And it was still early in the season, plenty of time to make their mark on the table. Nothing to worry about at all.

He took a worried swig from his abused pint, and continued staring at the screen, reacting with cheers and groans to every moment of drama. When the whistle blew it was still a one all draw, and he let out a disappointed grunt, his eyes leaving the TV in the bar and squinting as they adjusted to the gloom.

'Well, bugger.' A distinctly gloomy, very feminine voice came from alongside him, and he screwed his eyes up still further as he attempted to bring the short human that had appeared at the bar next to him into focus. 'Tony, fill that up would you? I'm depressed.'

'There now, a draw is almost a win, honey.' The barman - Tony, apparently - removed the girl's empty glass and replaced it with a fresh half of lager in a single smooth manoeuvre.

'Even you don't believe that, Tony, but thanks for humouring me.'

'Well, we have got a new manager and all, it's still bedding in. Atkinson is going to do well though, I can tell. It _is _still a good result.'

He hadn't intended to join their conversation, had no idea what had prompted him to do so, but the words were out of his mouth now and settling into the ears of the barman and the girl beside him. Tony grinned at him, and with a wink wandered off to the far end of the bar to answer the pleas of the other patrons, but _she_ looked up at him, and he thought he saw a flicker of amusement in the corner of her green eyes.

'Baggies fan then?'

He cleared his throat. 'Yeah, since I was a kid. 1966 League Cup Final had me so thrilled I refused to consider any other team, or so my father tells me. He's a Manchester United fan, and I'm a disappointment.'

She laughed. Her face was narrow, her nose bordering on thin, and she had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of it, but all of those things were nothing more than a footnote to her bright, wide smile. 'In footballing terms only, I hope.'

James risked a grin back. 'I'd like to think so. I mean, I'm pretty awesome in just about every respect.'

'Duly noted.' She took a deep draught of her lager. 'So, Wonderboy, you rate Atkinson?'

'You don't?' He tried to catch Tony's eye, and failed. The girl beside him, on the other hand, only made a slight gesture with her fingers and the barman popped up in front of him and refilled his glass.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully as she looked up at him.'Haven't seen enough of him yet. I'm undecided.'

'Well, he took a team from the fourth division to the second, and he's got a good eye for players, so…'

'Oh yeah, bringing Batson with him was a stroke of genius…'

James grinned in delight. 'I know, right? He fits in so well with the team…'

I mean, he's not going to touch the Bomber in terms of goal scoring…' She waved a hand expansively, her eyes widening as she spoke of the West Brom legend, and James found her obvious passion strangely adorable. He also decided that agreeing wholeheartedly with her would probably not lead to as interesting a conversation as if he disagreed with her - obviously well-informed - opinion.

'Hey, don't write him off on that, he could do it…'

She was in the process of draining her glass when his statement made her choke a little. 'Yeah, I don't think so, Wonderboy.' Her voice came out in a raspy croak.

'How long are you going to keep that 'wonderboy' stuff up?' He slid his mostly full pint to her, and she sipped gratefully.

'What else am I supposed to call you?'

'James might be a good start.' He offered a hand, and was actually quite surprised that she not only took it, but gave it an affectionate squeeze too.

'Lily.' He inclined his head in recognition of the introduction, but she was back on topic before he could say anything. 'So, who do you fancy for the title?'

**(J&L)** **(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**


	24. Snuffles

**A/N: **

**Prompt: could you maybe write Lily as a volunteer at an animal shelter, and somehow Sirius (as Padfoot) ends up there, and James has to go and adopt him back somehow? **

**Rating: K**

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

'Lily! Little help? This one is a bit of a handful!'

Lily looked up from the clipboard that held the exercise rota for the current occupants of the kennels to see her co-worker for the day, a sweet and exceptionally tiny girl about her own age named Beth, wrestling an enormous black dog of indeterminate breed through the doorway to the kennels. She chucked the paperwork down on the bench and rushed to help.

'Where'd he come from?' Beth had a death grip on the dog's collar, but it wasn't preventing him from yanking her all over the place. Lily snatched up a walking harness from the pegs on the wall and set about attaching it to the animal, adjusting it out to it's maximum extension.

Once it was on, she held onto it firmly and began to steer the dog towards a empty kennel, with Beth helping her push once the dog finally sat down on it's haunches and refused to move at all.

The gate shut with a clang, and Lily leaned back against it with a sigh. 'Jesus.'

Beth blew the hair out of her face. 'I know, right? Dog warden picked him up, wandering around town. No collar, so he came straight here. No idea how the hell he got the beast into the van.'

Lily shoved her hair back from her face, then began to fish through her jeans pocket for a band to pull it back with. 'Dog wardens must be tougher than we thought. I'll do the paperwork on this one if you help me with the flea bath.'

Beth winced at the idea, so presumably her thoughts were in tune with Lily's about just how wet they were about to get attempting an antibacterial de-flea bath on this one, but she gamely nodded her head.

'Right.' Lily rolled up her sleeves, tugged on her newly styled ponytail and squared her shoulders. 'You get the bath ready, I'll bring the creature here.'

Beth laughed. 'Name him for us Lily, you're better at it than anyone else.'

Lily pursed her lips as she looked the great black dog over. 'I was thinking Baskerville - because you know, huge dog - but this one is too much of a softie for that. So his name, for the time being, will be Snuffles.'

Beth looked mildly appalled. 'Snuffles?'

'Snuffles.' Lily confirmed with an emphatic nod. 'Definitely.'

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

'Hey boy! Still here? How're you doing?' Lily crouched down in front of the kennel that held the enormous black dog that had come in on her last shift, three days earlier, and reached a hand through the bars with a biscuit for him.

He was a rough and ready beast, and though he had absolutely no manners when it came to dragging people along on the end of a lead or taking a bath, he had a very kind disposition really. Lily had warmed to him very quickly, and though she was pleased to see him again, she couldn't help but feel sad that no-one had come looking for him yet.

'Want to take a walk boy?'

He stood up and wagged his tail, nose pushing at the bars in his eagerness to get out. Lily turned to take a lead down from the wall behind, but her attention was caught by the sound of a voice calling from the little reception area out front.

She abandoned the lead and ventured out to the desk, where she found a young man leaning across it to try and reach the bell that really ought to have been on top of the counter.

'Oh great!' The guy straightened up, giving Lily her first full look at his face. 'You know, it would really be helpful if the bell you're supposed to ring for assistance is within the reach of the average human. You know, unless you get a lot of giant squid in here, trying to rehome animals.'

Lily supposed she ought to be annoyed at his immediate griping, but he sounded so vexed and looked so harassed that she couldn't help but feel a little amusement rising up. 'Yeah, in theory it's supposed to be on the desk, but theory and practice are rarely the same thing around here. What can I do for you anyway?'

He stared at her for a long moment, then let out a deep breath as his right hand came up to bury itself in his already disastrously messy hair. His glasses were sitting slightly wonky across his nose, and there was a distinct look of frustration on his face. 'I'm sorry, that was rude.' He sighed as his hand fell back to his side. 'My dog is missing, and searching for him has me a little stressed. You're the fifth animal shelter I've tried this morning. I didn't even know there _were _that many around here!'

'Hmm, well unfortunately there are enough animals in need to support a lot of shelters. Can you describe your dog?'

'Uh, he's very large and he's all black. Looks a bit like a cross between a labrador and a wolfhound - buggered if I know what he actually is. Good tempered, but a bit bonkers.'

Lily looked up at the anxious hazel eyes staring down at her, and her lips twitched in what almost became a smile. 'That might be Snuffles. Hang on, I'll bring him through.'

She heard an incredulous _'Snuffles?'_ from the man at the desk, and the smile finally broke through as she clipped on the lead and pulled the large black dog out of his kennel. The moment she led him through the doorway, he began to struggle towards the tall man who had crouched down to see him.

'Hey Padfoot.' He patted the dog briefly on the head, and it obediently sat down next to his feet. Lily's mouth dropped open, and the man must have caught her facial expression because he grinned widely at her.

'Did the old rogue give you some trouble?'

She managed a nod in response, and he laughed and patted the dog's head once more. 'Yeah, he's of an independent frame of mind this one. Does as he pleases a lot of the time; this time it got him into a bit of a scrape, but I doubt he's learned his lesson. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him again.' He offered his hand with another warm smile. 'I'm James, this is Padfoot, and thank you from both of us…?'

He trailed off, his tone questioning, and she realised that he was waiting for her to tell him her name. 'Oh! I'm Lily. And I'm glad to see Snuffles reunited with an owner.' She tried her very hardest to sound stern. 'You really should have a collar on him you know. Especially if he's an escaper.'

James laughed out loud again. 'Don't think I haven't tried! You can't make this one do anything he doesn't want - not even his mother managed that. Collars, leads and anything else he doesn't like all seem to mysteriously disappear. Strange that, isn't it Padfoot?'

Lily couldn't help but be a little charmed by the odd relationship they seemed to have, even though she knew she ought to be disapproving. 'Very odd indeed.'

The dog, apparently aware that he was the focus of their attention, contrived to look innocent.

'Right, well I'll get this reprobate home then. Do I owe you anything, kenneling fees or…?'

'Oh no, we're a charity!' Lily rushed to reassure him. 'We accept donations, but never charge for anything, and all the staff are volunteers.'

'Okay, then if you don't mind me borrowing this collar and lead, I'll drop them back along with some dog treats and toys or something. For the rest of your guests.'

Lily felt her lips widen into a huge smile. 'That would be kind.'

He smiled back, then made his way over to the door, but he stopped in the doorframe and looked back. 'Are there really enough animals abandoned or lost, that we need that many shelters in town?'

Lily sighed. 'I'm sorry to say that there are.'

He stared at his feet for a moment, then looked back at her. 'Do you need more volunteers to help here?'

Her smile grew again. 'Always.'

'Then I'll see you soon, and I'll bring reinforcements.' He took two more steps out of the door, holding it open so that he could continue to speak to her.

'Sounds intriguing.'

He paused, holding the door wide open. 'You might regret saying that when you meet them.'

The door shut with a bang, and Lily shook her head and wandered back to the kennels to find the next dog that needed walking.

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

James watched with a critical eye as the huge black dog became his idiot best friend in the relative safety of a dark alley.

'A dog warden, Padfoot?'

'I wasn't paying attention.' Sirius answered sulkily. 'There may have been a cat involved.'

'I had to speak to the muggle police you know.'

'You mean _Moony_ had to speak to the muggle police.' Sirius corrected, knowing full well that James was probably incapable of dealing with the muggle police without being detained for psychiatric assessment.

'And the hospitals.' James' tone was grumpy. 'And then we had to go all over town looking for animal shelters. Why didn't you change back you nutter?'

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'One, Moony says that muggles put things in buildings that work like a pensieve, storing up memories for people to watch again later, and the last thing I need is to get done for being an illegal animagus _and_ for breaking the Statute of Secrecy. Two, even as a human I couldn't get out of there through several locked doors without a wand, and just sitting in there waiting for someone to find me might lead to awkward questions about why they're down one dog but up one human. Bringing us right back to the Statute of Secrecy again. So I was forced to rely on my stupid mates to find me, and they took their damn time. And the one who did find me just bloody volunteered to work at the shelter because he's got goo-goo eyes for the girl!'

'I have not! She made me think about animal welfare, that's all.'

'She makes you want to get in touch with your animal _nature_, you mean.'

'Shut your face and lets get home. I've been making dumb excuses for you for three days now, I reckon Mum is starting to suspect I'm lying. _Snuffles_.'

'Mate, I can promise you now that I will never, ever answer to the name _Snuffles_, all right?'

'Whatever you say.'

'I mean it Prongs.'

'I'm sure you do.'

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**


	25. The Muse

**A/N: **

**Prompt: au where james is an art student and their first class is life drawing and lily (a chem student who needs the money) is the model **

**Rating: T**

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

The pencil in his hands drew curved, flourishing lines almost thoughtlessly across his sketchpad as he drew a rough sketch of the room. There were barely ten people in it, most of the students on his Fine Art course choosing to avoid the life drawing classes in favour of conceptual art, and it could have done with better lighting if they were going to use it for this kind of thing, in his opinion at least.

It was warm though, he presumed for the comfort of the model; God knew_ he_ was sweltering. He put his pad back on his easel, dropped his pencil in the tray and pulled off his jumper. He was just straitening his glasses and trying to rein his hair's insanity in when the tutor wandered in, talking to a petite girl with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder who walked unconcernedly alongside her.

His interest piqued, James watched the two out of the corner of his eye as he returned to his sketchpad and his rough lines; he'd never seen this girl in any of his classes before, he was certain of that. He would have _noticed_. Perhaps she was a transfer, or had missed the start of the year for whatever reason.

She had a mass of long hair, which looked as if it was naturally slightly wavy, rather than produced with careful styling. It was a dark red, the lights she was standing under brightening hints of copper that ran through it, and her skin was fair and clear. She turned to scan the room, and he got his first good look at her face.

Her eyes were extraordinary; he could see that they were a vivid green even from his position on the other side of the room. The rest of her features were pretty, but it was the eyes that were the draw. His fingers were already sketching their shape, though he knew he could never do justice to the colour, not with oil, watercolour or pastel.

His attention was caught again by the tutor telling them to settle down, and by the time he turned back the girl was gone and he couldn't see her sitting down anywhere. Maybe not a new student after all then.

He adjusted his position so that he fully faced the centre of the room, waiting for the model to fill the chair that was positioned there, then he returned to his study of the girl's eyes, which was taking shape nicely.

A commotion had him looking up, and to his shock he saw the redhead, swathed in a dressing gown, lowering herself into the model's chair.

He dropped his pencil.

He bent to retrieve it, and then he sat upright and took in two deep breaths as he looked directly at her. She lowered the dressing gown to the floor, and his breath caught.

He didn't think it was even that she was physically attractive – and fucking _hell _was she attractive – it was that she sat there totally un-selfconsciously as the tutor gently positioned her with her legs crossed and her hands clasped on her knees. Those eyes looked calm and soft as she sat in the centre of the room with all eyes on her.

He began to draw, his pencil flying over the paper, starting from the most basic lines that made her shape and refining them into _her_.

He barely registered time being called until the girl slipped back into her dressing gown. He blinked and stared at his pad, at the almost complete drawing. He'd never drawn that fast, that_ easily_ before.

He looked back up and saw that the girl had gone again, and he began to pack up as quickly as he could, hoping that he could catch up with her. His eyes scanned the room as he clumsily threw his supplies into his rucksack, and then he caught sight of her hair on the far side of the room, where she was speaking to the tutor.

He dawdled for a moment, then timed his exit so that he could hold the door open for her. She flashed him a quick smile and slipped out, and it took a moment for his thoughts to catch up, but then he was rushing after her.

'Excuse me! Wait, hang on a second!' She stopped, her face showing her confusion, and he jogged up to her.

'Listen, I was just wondering if…look, I'd like to draw you again sometime, if you'd be up for it?'

She eyed him suspiciously. 'Sorry mate, I don't think that's a good idea.'

A frown flickered across his face, then his brain caught up. 'No! No, not…_nude_. I just…look, I got a really fantastic sketch of you in there, and I'd like to do a series. Maybe a couple of maquettes, see if there's the potential for a sculpture. Completely clothes on.'

Her face cleared, and she looked at him with something approaching regret. 'Sorry…what was your name?'

'James.' He held out a hand and she took it for a brief moment.

'Well, I'm sorry James but I don't think I'll have much time. It was a struggle to find time in my schedule for this class. Inorganic chemistry doesn't study itself you know.'

'Chemistry? Wow.' James was suitably impressed. 'Rubbish at it myself. More power to you though, if you understand all that.'

'Well, I don't know one end of a pencil from another.' She nodded at him as she began to turn away. 'We all do what we do.'

'Why did you do this class tonight?' He called quietly after her. 'Why carve time out of a hectic schedule to sit for a life drawing class?'

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. 'The money was great.'

'I'll pay you.'

She turned around fully. 'Excuse me?'

'I'll pay you for your time if you model for me. Just like the class, only it will be one on one. In public places if you like. To begin with at least.'

She eyed him thoughtfully. 'How much?'

He grinned at her. 'You get right to the point don't you? The same as whatever you got paid for tonight, for each sitting you do.'

He could see her mulling it over, could see her turning the idea over and around in her mind.

'Okay James. I'm Lily, your new model.' This time she stuck out a hand, and he took it easily.

'Muse.' He corrected. 'Artists have _muses_.'

'Don't be so bloody pretentious.'

He snorted. This ought to be fun.

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**


	26. The World Cup

**A/N:**

**Prompt: AU where James is a professional Quidditch player and he's playing at the World Cup (you can throw Harry into the mix too) **

**Rating: T**

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

Shit!' James tripped over a discarded shoe in the middle of the rug, and fell flat on his face with a dull thud and a loud swear word.

From her spot on the bed, flat on her back and with one arm thrown over her face to shield her eyes against daylight, Lily groaned at the sound of an extremely loud curse falling from her husband's lips, because she knew _exactly_ what came next.

Sure enough, a loud keening cry came from the next room, and she moved her arm just enough to glare at James as he rushed frantically around the room, still muttering curses under her breath. Not that it had any effect on him, since he was so thoroughly focused on trying to find his warm-up strip that he barely noticed, though he did allow himself to be distracted from his task long enough to kick the shoe that had tripped him up with a certain amount of venom.

Lily rolled to the edge of the bed and let her feet drop off to make contact with the floor, then she forced herself upright, still bleary eyed from being woken up three times in the night by a fretful Harry; teething was turning out to be far more difficult to deal with than even colic had been.

A seven month old baby was challenging enough at the best of times, and she regularly thanked Merlin for cooling and numbing charms - several times a day, in fact - and occasionally couldn't resist smugly imagining her sister going through the same thing without the aid of magic. Sometimes that alone was enough to perk her up, but it wasn't going to cut it today; not when she was sleep-deprived, starving and in desperate need of a shower. Just a shower would do – make-up, styled hair and co-coordinating clothing were a distant dream.

She grabbed her dressing gown from where it had been thrown haphazardly across the bed at quarter to five, and shuffled towards the bedroom door. She'd only just grabbed the door handle when James' large and calloused hand closed over hers.

'Sorry love. I didn't mean to wake him up.'

Lily looked up into her husband's contrite face, framed by hair that was even wilder than usual. 'It's okay, he'd have woken up soon enough anyway. Besides, he and I can get a nap in before the game this afternoon.'

James' free hand wound its way into her hair, playing with the ends, in a gesture so familiar that she was always surprised that it still felt so sweet. 'I'm so glad that you're coming.'

'To see your debut for England? Of course we're coming.'

James leaned down and touched his lips to hers very briefly. 'He definitely has your lungs you know. I don't think I've ever yelled that loud in my life.'

Lily pulled the door open. 'Last time you got hit by a bludger. That's all I'm saying.'

'My femur was broken in five places!' James shouted after her as she made her way along the landing to their whimpering son.

Grinning to herself, she opened the door to Harry's nursery and approached the _other_ love of her life.

'Hey baby…'

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**

James adjusted his uniform nervously as they waited in the tunnel. One of his fellow chasers elbowed him, and gave him an encouraging grin.

'Hey, how bad can it be? Not that much bigger than a Championship game right?'

It was Liam Hopkirk's third year playing for England, but his first at the World Cup, and while he wasn't quite as nervous as James, he was still showing much more trepidation than was usual for him; he might have played for a rival team, but James had always admired the man's composure, and seeing him nervous just put James even further on edge.

'Hope not.'

'Anyone here for you, Potter?' Ian Grayson, the third member of their trio of chasers, joined their conversation. 'In the box I mean.'

A stupidly goofy grin spread across his face, and he couldn't even bring himself to feel embarrassed about it. 'Yeah, my wife is coming, with our little boy.'

Hopkirk looked surprised; they'd been practising together for a month or so, and they'd made small talk, but the subject of significant others hadn't come up, probably because other than James only the Keeper, Tomlinson, was attached. 'You have a son? How the hell old _are_ you, Potter?'

'Twenty-one. He's only seven months, so this is his first time at one of my games. Pretty awesome that the first match he's going to see me in is a World Cup. His first ever pro-game.'

Hopkirk shook his head. 'Bloody hell. Twenty-one, and he's more grown up than either of us, Grayson.'

'There are_ jellyfish_ more grown up than you, Hopkirk.'

Hopkirk grinned. 'And my boyish charm is why the ladies love me, you know that.'

'You must have been young getting married then, Potter.' Grayson pointedly turned his attention back to James, who grinned bashfully.

'Eighteen. Right out of Hogwarts.'

'Bloody hell.' Hopkirk looked utterly incredulous. 'Eighteen. Really?'

James' grin widened into an outright smirk. 'If you saw my wife, you'd understand.'

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the announcer, and all three men instantly became serious now the game was starting, even if it was just the player call out.

The keeper and beaters went out first, and then the three chasers were all called together.

They flew out of the tunnel and shot straight up into the air, the cheers of the crowd ringing in their ears as they flew around the stadium to wave and nod at the fans. James began to slow up as he passed the player's box, and Hopkirk and Grayson did the same, either simply to keep the formation or possibly so they could satisfy their curiosity about his wife.

And there she was, right in the front of the box, vivid red hair flying around her face. She was wearing an England scarf and was grinning hugely, her eyes fixed only on him, and he felt his heart leap.

Then he saw Harry; Lily was holding him up on her lap, his little feet not quite good enough at supporting him for him to manage it unaided, and he was wearing an exact replica of his father's strip, right down to the insignias, and was waving his chubby little arms furiously, England flag firmly clenched in one pudgy fist, while Lily tried to keep hold of him.

His eyes - bright green, just like Lily's - were alight with curiosity and excitement, and James would swear that he was looking right at his father as he grinned and waved his flag, though he knew it wasn't possible that Harry had any real understanding of what was going on.

Still, he felt his heart swell; his little boy was at a Quidditch match, _that he was playing in_, and he was having the time of his life, and his mother was laughing and smiling at Harry's antics, but her eyes were only for James.

He didn't know what he'd done to deserve this life, but if he ever found out he'd be sure to do it again. Possibly twice.

He blew his wife a kiss, enjoying the blush that stained her face as the crowd "ooohed" the gesture loudly, and then he flew off to his position, to wait for the start of the game. He was pretty certain that he couldn't lose today; right now, it wouldn't have taken much to convince him that he could fly _without_ the broom.

**(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)(J&L)**


	27. Four Halloweens

**A/N: It's Jilytober over on Tumblr! - featured authors will be writing 'if they lived' AUs every day, and other submissions are welcomed by the admins so it's worth checking out. This was my contribution; I was the featured writer for 2nd October.  
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**Rating: T**

* * *

><p><strong>31<strong>**st**** October 1981 – 6:35pm**

'Halloween is more fun in our world.'

Harry took no notice of his father's pronouncement, and simply bounced a little more determinedly in his arms.

He was pressed against the glass of the window as his father held him up, his eyes round as they took in the sight of Halloween being celebrated – if one could call it that - in the small village of Godric's Hollow; Harry's interest could be engaged with something as simple as a dead leaf, but James was distinctly unimpressed with the lack of festivities.

A few children in costume ran past from time to time, and there were definitely a few pumpkins in nearby windows, but by and large, Halloween was passing largely unmarked before their eyes.

Not that the Potter house was doing much better at marking what was a very important event in the magical world – the little family was beginning to show the wear of so much time locked away from the world, and neither James nor Lily could summon up the energy or inclination to produce decorations.

James had considered it – he could transfigure a pumpkin easily enough, and if he made some paper bats Lily could charm them to fly….he'd thought of so many things, and each time he had he'd come to the same conclusion – why bother?

There really didn't seem to be much point in anything anymore.

Lily joined him in the window, and his arm automatically found its way around her shoulders, Harry held tightly between them as they stared out at a world they were beginning to think they'd never re-join.

Recognising the movement of her shoulders as yet more silent sobbing – he'd become proficient at spotting the signs of her depression by now – he did the only thing he could and held his family tighter.

**31****st**** October 1982 – 4.45am**

The sound of boots crunching across grass crisp with autumn frost alerted James to the presence of another person in the cemetery. He hadn't expected anyone else to be here – Halloween wasn't traditionally a day for visiting graves at the best of times, and before sunrise certainly wasn't most people's idea of the appropriate time. It wasn't_ his_ idea of an appropriate time either, in all honesty, but he hadn't been able to sleep at all – Merlin knew, his sleeping pattern had been rough for a while now, but last night had been the worst for a long, long time.

It had been a year, a full twelve months since the events that meant he – and Lily, and Harry – had been able to venture out into the world again, finally safe.

A year of counting the cost.

The footsteps came closer, and James' hand clenched tighter on his concealed wand. It might have been a year since he'd been officially in danger, but you didn't live under that kind of storm cloud for as long as he had without it leaving marks. Scars, really.

Lily knew that better than anyone. Which was why she walked directly around to his side, where he could clearly see who she was, and that she held no wand – old habits died hard.

She knelt down alongside him, one arm snaking around his waist in a motion honed over years, and smiled wistfully at the headstone in front of them, that marked the grave of their truest friend. 'Hi Sirius. Happy Halloween.'

She remembered the funeral like it was yesterday; James had spoken to Andromeda, the only cousin Sirius had had any time for, and they'd agreed to bury him next to James' parents, in the little cemetery that served both muggles and magical folk in the small town of Little Somerfield. One more tiny act of defiance towards the Black family, and a too-small gesture of filial love and respect for the brother who'd taken the secret of their location to the grave, safeguarding his godson's life with his own.

It was believed that Voldemort had delivered the killing curse himself – neither James nor Lily doubted that Sirius would have been grimly proud of that. It had taken several days for the news to sink in, coming as it did on the heels of Voldemort's defeat at the hands of Dumbledore. They could only be thankful that their new found and hard-won freedom had allowed them the comfort of their other friends.

'I still can't believe it.' James' voice was hoarse, the effort of not crying making his words sound strangled. 'It's been a year, and I still look for him. I keep finding his stuff all over the house, I keep staring at that bloody motorcycle in the garage like he's going to appear from behind it any minute. And Harry, Harry drags around that bloody cuddly black dog like it's his lifeline and I can't _bear_ it Lil, I can't bear it…'

And then she couldn't hear anything but the sound of her husband sobbing over his brother's grave, and she did the only thing she could – she wrapped her arms around him, and cried with him.

**31****st**** October 1985, 8.12pm**

'Available to any student whose parent cannot, or will not, support them during their time at Hogwarts - the Sirius Black Hardship Fund!'

Cheers from the crowd almost drowned out the end of Dumbledore's announcement, and James couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he looked down at his beaming wife.

'You're right – this is perfect. The best thing we could have done in his name.'

'I am known to be quite clever from time to time.' She replied archly, smiling fondly at her husband even as she restrained Harry from running off into the crowd; he'd become a little too curious for his own good, and had a habit of wandering off to find interesting things. She dreaded sending him to Hogwarts, knowing that he'd likely manage to get into even more trouble than his father had.

'I am very well aware of that, love.'

James pulled his wife and son into a hug, and held onto them tightly – these precious things of his that his best friend had defended beyond his last breath - until a polite cough indicated that it was time for the people responsible for endowing the Sirius Black Hardship Fund to mingle with the crowd.

Half an hour later Lily managed to drift back to her husband, who was standing to one side of the room watching Harry play with young Neville Longbottom and his mother.

'Cute.' She commented as she watched Harry tag Alice. 'It's good to see Alice out. Losing Frank hit her so hard.'

James nodded. 'I know. It's good to see everybody.'

It had taken a long time for the Potters to feel able to spend time at social gatherings. They'd both thought that they'd been so deprived of others during their time locked away that they'd crave company as soon as they were able to get it – in fact, the opposite had been true. Crowds made them nervous; parties were unbearable.

For two such previously gregarious people, it had been a shock and a source of shame. It had taken them a long time to come to terms with the fact that they had not, after all, come through the war unscathed. But they'd worked hard at it, they'd given themselves both time and space, and now they were enjoying a gathering of people all celebrating the life of someone that they both loved beyond measure.

Progress was a wonderful thing, even if it was attained in small steps.

**31****st**** October 1987, 6.10pm**

'Harry! Harry, come on, we're going to be late!'

Lily rested one hand on the newel post as she hollered up the stairs at her son. She paused for a moment, then opened her mouth to yell again but was forestalled by thunderous footsteps as her seven year old barrelled down the stairs.

She surveyed Harry carefully, then turned her head and shouted for her husband.

'James! James Potter, are you _mad_? Your son _cannot_ go trick or treating like this.'

James appeared from the kitchen, his hands full of wriggling one year old. '_His_ costume isn't the problem Lil – I can't get this one into this pumpkin thingy.'

Lily sighed. 'Pass her over.'

James grinned and handed his daughter over, complete with pumpkin costume dangling from one leg. Lily smiled at her daughter and sat down on the hallway floor to work her into the puffy costume.

'There we go baby girl! James, please do something about Harry.'

He surveyed his handiwork. 'Looks good to me Lil.'

'It's _too_ good James, and that's the problem.' Lily rose gracefully from the floor, fully costumed daughter held in front of her, taking a moment to stick her tongue out in childish triumph over her husband. 'I _said_, make Harry a nice costume. What you have _done_, is transfigure our son to look like a troll.'

'And he looks great!' James pointed out. 'Look, I got all the fangs, and the warts, and the overhanging brow and everything!'

'And what happens when someone asks him to take his mask off?' Lily asked pointedly.

James paused for a moment. 'We tell them it's glued on?'

'Uh huh, okay.' Lily responded. 'And how will we be explaining the claws?'

'We tell people I work in special effects for movies?'

'They all think that you're an accountant.'

James pouted. 'Come on Lily, he's going to have the best costume around! I'll obliviate anyone who ask too many questions, how about that?'

Spotting his wife's lips twitch, James knew he'd nearly won this one. So he played dirty.

'What does Serene think, huh?' He scooped their daughter from Lily's arms and swung her around until she giggled. '_You_ want to let Harry go out in his awesome costume, that your daddy had to research in _three_ different books, don't you?'

'Fine.' Lily knew when she was outgunned. 'But I'm not pulling any strings at the Ministry if you get caught using magic on muggles.'

James leaned over to plant an exuberant kiss on her hairline as he continued to twirl Serene around; Harry pretended to vomit.

'That's okay Lil, I'll get Moony to do it.'


	28. By Any Other Name

**Prompt: So there are hot guys sitting across the street from my house and I'm on the balcony SO Jily AU where Lily looks hot her window and sees four boys (marauders) just sitting there and she goes out on her balcony to yell at them and James tries to ask her out and makes obscure Romeo&Juliet references and she says something like "wherefore art thou an idiot" and yeah? Love youuuu **

**Rating: T**

_**(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**_

Lily stared intently at her computer screen, sure that if she _just stared hard enough_, this essay would get written. Her fingers tapped idly on her desk as she tried to order her thoughts well enough to start getting them down on paper. Or screen. Whatever.

Her eyes wandered from the screen to her stack of textbooks; she loved chemistry, she really did, and put her in a lab and she owned the world, but she'd always struggled to put her thoughts down on paper.

Loud, raucous laughter from across the street broke into her scattered thoughts, and she frowned as she pushed her chair away from her desk and moved to look out of her balcony door.

It was her single favourite thing about her room – the big patio doors that opened onto the little balcony above the front porch. It was worth the extra rent to have that.

Across the street, four boys were in the front garden of number six. It had been empty for months, the rent too high for most students, and the area too full of students for everyone else, and then two days ago it had suddenly become occupied. Lily hadn't seen any sign of the new occupants until now, and neither had any of her housemates.

They looked to be about her age, and seemed to know each other extremely well, if the amount of good-natured pushing and bantering was anything to go by. Two of them – a lanky, messy haired boy with glasses, and a slightly shorter but even slimmer boy with sandy hair – appeared to be hooking up speakers to play music outdoors, while a dark-haired third lounged in a folding chair and heckled. The fourth, a short blond, was unpacking a disposable barbeque, and trying not to laugh too hard at the others.

Lily sighed and rolled her chair back to her desk. Music and barbeques in a sunny garden. All right for some.

It was only about ten minutes later that the music started, and while she thought that she should probably be annoyed that their music was loud enough for her to hear across the street, she actually found herself appreciating the strains of The Police as they floated in through the partially open balcony door. It was only early afternoon after all, it's not like they were really hurting anyone.

Two minutes later though, she was scrambling to get out onto the balcony, searching for the source of the noise – that she could only have described as a "whoomph!" – that had disturbed her just as she _finally _started getting something decent down for her essay.

Looking across the street, she could see the four boys yelling at each other as they tried to regain control of their barbeque, which resembled the proverbial towering inferno right at that moment.

'What did you use to start it?' The sandy haired boy called out as he batted at the flames with a beach towel.

'I don't know, Remus, that purple stuff that was in the shed? It said it was flammable.' The blond replied.

"Remus" continued to beat at the flames even as he complained at the other boy. 'Honestly Pete, who pours something on a fire without checking what it is?'

At that point, the other two boys appeared from inside the house, one brandishing a fire extinguisher and the other a fire blanket. They made short work of putting out the fire, and then the bespectacled boy picked up a plastic bottle that was sitting on the garden wall and peered at the label.

'Methylated spirits. Well done Pete.' He threw the bottle at the blond boy – Pete, apparently - who continued to protest that he couldn't have known.

'Why didn't you ask, moron?' The fourth boy asked; Pete spread his hands helplessly.

Lily gave it a few moments, and when the argument showed no sign of abating, decided that she would have to ask them to shut it.

'Oi!' She hollered at them from across the street. All four stopped rowing and looked around for the source of the voice. She waved an arm to get their attention.

'Now that crisis has been averted and all that, do you think you could keep the noise down a bit? Some of us are stuck inside doing work.'

The messy haired boy stepped forward, moving across the street to the pavement in front of her house and shielding his eyes with his hand as he looked up at her. A wide grin spread across his face.

'You could always come and join us. We're having a barbeque.' He turned to survey the charred remains of their barbeque, smouldering in the corner of their garden. 'Or we will be, once Pete has bought a replacement.'

'I'm not going to the shop again, James!' Pete complained. 'Send Sirius, he hasn't done anything useful today.'

"Sirius" sneered at the suggestion, and shoved Pete, who raised his middle finger at him.

'Thanks for the invite, but I've got work to do.' Lily turned to head back in, but was stopped by another shout from the boy called James.

'Okay, scrub the barbeque. How about dinner somewhere in town?'

She turned and stared incredulously. Was he seriously asking her out?

'Or…I could pack up some food and we could go for a picnic?' He continued, either oblivious to, or possible simply ignoring, the sniggers and disbelieving looks his friends were exchanging. 'Ooh, I saw a seafood restaurant as I was driving earlier, I bet that's good.'

He stopped and looked up at her expectantly. It took her a moment to find her voice.

'I…don't think…look, I'm sort of busy…'

'She speaks! O, speak again, bright angel.'

Her jaw dropped. 'Did you…did you just quote Romeo and Juliet at me?'

He shrugged sheepishly, tucking his hands into his pockets. 'You're on a balcony.'

She stared at him, but he seemed largely unfazed by her shock. She supposed that if this was standard behaviour for him, he was probably used to garnering odd looks from people.

'So,' he continued on, 'I'm James, and you are…?' He cocked his head questioningly, and she felt the corners of her lips try to twitch up in a smile that she ruthlessly supressed.

'What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.'

He clapped a hand dramatically over his heart. 'Fair lovely maid!'

She folded her arms and looked sternly down at him. 'That's not Romeo and Juliet.'

He shrugged again. 'Taming of the Shrew. Points for it being Shakespeare, surely?'

'Nope, sorry, you lose the holiday for two to Bermuda. Do you want to try for the matching his and hers luggage?'

He smiled a slow, crooked grin. 'Hey, I'm just aiming for a date.'

'Sorry, but I do actually have to write this essay.' There was a little stab of genuine regret in her heart, much to her shock.

He inclined his head. 'Maybe some other time. You know where I am, Juliet.' He headed back across the street, accepting his friend's ribbing good naturedly, and without looking back at her.

_**(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**_

Several hours later, Lily had actually finished her essay. Wonders never ceased. She got up from her chair and stretched, her muscles tight from the hours of hunching over her keyboard.

She stepped out onto the balcony into the summer evening air, the warmth of the day still lingering. She stood for a moment, drinking in the fresh air, before a movement across the street caught her eye. She could just make out the outline of James, standing on the front steps of number six and drinking from a bottle.

Allowing herself to act on instinct – hadn't she knuckled down and finished that essay like a good, sensible girl? – she stepped to the edge of the balcony.

'James, James, wherefore art thou, idiot?'

She saw his head come up swiftly, and before she knew it he was jogging across the street to the same spot he'd stood in earlier.

'My lady.' He inclined his head to her, before taking an easy swig from the bottle he still carried.

'So, I finished that essay.'

'Intelligent _and _beautiful.'

She laughed, out loud and without reservation. 'I didn't say it was _good_.'

He snorted into his drink.

'Anyway,' she continued, ignoring his sudden spluttering, 'I was thinking of going to grab a drink, celebrate being done. Thought you might, maybe, want to come along.'

His face broke into that easy grin again. 'Sure.'

She smiled back stupidly. 'I'll be right down. Just…two minutes, okay?'

He nodded. 'Whatever you say, Juliet.'

'It's Lily, you moron. My name's Lily.' She shut the balcony door and snatched up a pair of shoes and a jacket. She wasn't sure how in the hell Romeo and Juliet had worked on her, but it bloody well had.

_**(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**_


	29. Jane and Lily

**Prompt: An au in which james is female (jane because why not) and she's the leader of the mostly male (3/4) marauders and she is like the baddest mama bear around and everyone kind of assumes that she's got something going on with sirius but like no she's 100% gay and 100% in love with lily evans**

**Rating: T**

_**(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**_

'Jane, what the hell are you doing?'

Sirius hissed at his friend from his hiding place in an alcove behind a tapestry, gesturing for her to come and join him before anyone came along and triggered their prank. They'd had three detentions between them already this week, and it was only Thursday. To top it off, Professor McGonagall had made some uncharacteristically graphic threats about what would happen to them both should her star chaser be in detention for Saturday's quidditch match, and Sirius wasn't foolish enough to test his Head of House.

Jane spun on her heel to look at him, hazel eyes a little vacant and one hand stuck in her wild black hair. Recognising the star struck look in his friend's eyes, Sirius immediately searched the area for the only thing that put that expression on Jane's face. The flash of red hair disappearing into the toilets down the corridor was pretty easy to spot.

'Stop daydreaming, and get over here!'

Jane took two steps towards Sirius, and giving up on instilling any sense of urgency in her, Sirius stepped out of his alcove, grabbed a handful of her school shirt and yanked her in after him. Unfortunately, two Hufflepuff third years walked past right in time to see the two of them disappearing behind a tapestry.

'Black and Potter really are rubbish at hiding the fact that they spend a ton of time snogging aren't they?' One of the girls spoke airily to her friend, presumably thinking that Jane and Sirius were too firmly attached at the lips by now to be paying attention to what they were saying.

Sirius grunted in annoyance as they disappeared towards the stairs. 'One more for the bloody rumour mill then.'

Jane shrugged as she adjusted her hair into a messy ponytail. 'Who cares?'

'_**I**_ do.' Sirius answered hotly. 'Every time I even _think _about dating a girl, they start looking at you suspiciously, and analysing everything I say to you, and eventually it becomes too much effort. I mean, it's not exactly a problem, but one day I might actually really like one of them, and it would be handy if they were aware of the fact that I have never snogged you, and would never want to.'

'_Thanks _Sirius.' Jane feigned a hurt look.

'Shut up Potter, it'd be like snogging my sister.'

'I thought your family were into that kind of thing.'

'Being a girl won't stop me from punching you.'

Jane laughed. 'If you like, I'll start hexing anyone who even_ suggests_ that we might ever have so much as touched lips.'

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall of their little hidey hole. 'Or you could start dating. Maybe actually get around to asking Evans out properly, instead as a daft bloody joke, like you did after OWLs last year.'

'That _was_ just a joke Sirius.' Jane frowned at her best mate.

'Yeah, right. And you don't damn near pass out whenever the girl walks past you.'

'Of course I don't.'

'Right, keep telling yourself that.'

There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence, which was unusual for the two of them, usually so comfortable in each other's company. Eventually Jane cleared her throat.

'Say I _did _like Evans…'

'Ha!'

'Shut up Sirius,' Jane ignored his crowing, 'then I still couldn't ask her out.'

'Why the bloody hell not?' Sirius stopped looking smug and glowered at her instead.

'Because Lily Evans is_ straight_ Sirius.'

'Says who?'

Jane blinked. 'She's dated blokes.'

'And?' Sirius' smug look was back. 'Maybe she was testing it out. She's not _still _dating any of them is she? So she ditched them for a reason. Maybe she found out that she didn't like blokes.' Sirius paused and frowned. 'Or maybe she likes both. Anyway, you can't know, because you've never asked her.'

'And I'm not going to.' Jane responded, her tone resolute.

'Suit yourself.' Sirius answered innocently. 'Two galleons says you do before the end of term.'

'Done.' Jane shook his hand absently, her attention no longer on him but on the sound of footsteps coming along the corridor.

'Sucker.' Sirius muttered under his breath as they both positioned themselves closer to the tapestry that was hiding them, trying to hear someone triggering their trap. There was an indignant shriek, the sound of parchment rolls hitting the floor, and then one or two inventive swear words in a Scottish brogue that they both knew all too well.

They stared at each other in horror.

'That's McGonagall isn't it?' Jane asked.

Sirius simply nodded.

'Professor McGonagall is suspended upside down in the corridor, with her robes transfigured into a jester's costume.'

Sirius nodded again.

'We're dead.'

_**(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)**_


End file.
